


[Pay to Claim the Prize]

by Fragilister



Category: Watch Dogs (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Dubious Consent, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Manipulation, Graphic, M/M, Porn With Plot, Smut, au where clara works for defalt and aiden actually talks nicky out, instead of hacking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2015-01-25
Packaged: 2018-02-26 10:20:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2648462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fragilister/pseuds/Fragilister
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nicole and Jacks are free. But Aiden still has a price to pay.</p><p>2017/11/15 EDIT: will be entirely reworked in the coming months</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. [Broken Things]

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: It's 9th January 2016 and I'm sorry for ever writing this tbh hah. Enjoy if you wanna enjoy it, but I'm just warning that it probably won't get an ending ;w;"
> 
> Hello there! I've published this once already, but didn't feel like it was finished yet. Fixed some errors, comment if you find any other, if I missed any. I'm not a native English speaker. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Damien's lips vere curved in a satisfied smile. He sat on a chair in a small empty room in front of Chicago's vigilante, Aiden Pearce, who was standing with his hands lifted over his head. Brenks shifted his grasp on the gun pointed at his ex-coworker, loading it with a small click.

"What now, boy?" he said in a low voice and tilted his head. "Your sis is downstairs, you're here and the data is not. What'll you say in your defence?"

Aiden didn't say anything, just looked down. The hat cast a shadow on his face, hiding it's owner.

"What will you say, friend?" Damien hissed, the last part sounding angry and almost... almost sad. "Let go of your phone. Just throw it on the floor."

The Fox followed his instruction after a moment of hesitation. He frowned when he heard the sound of the glass screen cracking upon meeting the cold floor.

"I lost the data. Let Nicky go," Aiden said through his clenched teeth and looked up to Damien with a dangerous glimpse in his eyes.

Damien laughed and stood up clumsily. With his limping leg, he walked up to the other man, still pointing the pistol at him and shrugging slightly. He stopped less than a yard away from him and sighed, eyeing him from head to toe.

"Aiden. You never learn, do you?" he murmured and caressed Pearce's face with the cold metal of the pistol. He lift the peak of his hat with the tip of it to look Aiden in the eye, meeting up his greens with his own blue gaze. "What happened? It doesn't have to be like this, Aiden. You could still work with me, like in the good old days. We enjoyed that, didn't we?"

Aiden kept quiet for another moment, trying to turn his face away a little. They've had this conversation before, but now Aiden really wasn't in the position to say 'no' to Damien's proposal.

"I might reconsider it if you let her go," he said and Damien thought for a split second that his voice cracked slightly, as if Aiden was about to scream or cry. But he didn't. He just stood there and trembled gently when the metal touched his face over and over.

Damien huffed through his nose and snorted or rather started laughing, louder and louder with every passing second. Aiden just stood still, feeling a shiver travel down his spine once he heard that. He knew this man for many years and this sure as hell wasn't an actual amused laughter.

"What is your work worth now, Aiden? The data is lost," Brenks growled suddenly and hit him in the face with his other hand, leaving a red mark on Aiden's cheek. He gasped in surprise, as a slap was one of the things he didn't expect at all. 

"You don't need it, Damien. If you just wouldn't be so greedy..." he started, but got cut off by another hit, this time to his chin. He could taste blood on his lip, as the gun which hit him cut it open. By this point Brenks wasn't even faking his laughter anymore, he just sighed and reached up with his other hand to Aiden's face. Pearce flinched, preparing for another hit, but the only thing that came was a caress.

"I have so many reasons to kill you," he said quietly, as if ignoring what Aiden said earlier.

"You won't kill me, Damien," the other man said faintly, trying to breathe normally again. Blood was dripping from his lower lip and down his chin.

"How would you know? The cops would give me a great reward for silencing the 'vigilante'," Damien answered and backed a few steps to take a look at his work. "I missed you, partner."

"I surely didn't miss you" Pearce spit out and straightened up.

"You did, Aiden. I really wish Merlaut never happened, you know. I wish you could trust me more, like you did before."

"I never trusted you."

Damien smirked and laughed shortly while shaking his head. He secured the pistol and put it into his pocket.

"Liar. You came here, that means you have some faith in me." He looked at Aiden in silence before breathing out louder. "I'll let Nicky go."

Pearce flinched and took a fews steps towards Damien, who stopped him with a gesture.

"You can drive them out of the city. Make them safe, alright. But then, you'll come back straight to my place and help me get back the data that that young jerk stole," Brenks said and made himself more comfortable on the chair. "And maybe I'll think of something more," he added with a smile.

Aiden put down his hands slowly, but his face was blank, without any expressions. Damien wondered what was going on in that head he used to watch out for, that he used to shield from shots... He pushed away those thoughts quickly and just waited until the younger man spoke. He had to, eventually.

"How do you know I won't just run away?" Aiden finally asked.

"Your phone will stay here. I know you've got some data on it that you wouldn't want to lose that easily. You'll take this instead, for contact." Damien threw a small flip phone at him and Aiden caught it calmly.

"You've got to be kidding me," Pearce snorted, but didn't say anything more. "Can I go now?

The older man looked at him thoughtfully for a few seconds and tilted his head to the right. His arms rested in a slack way on the handles of the chair, as he played with his fingers. No, he wasn't done here just yet.

"Not quite. You'd do anything to help your sis, right?" he asked as his smile widened.

Pearce flinched again and blinked in slight confusion.

"I'll do what I think is right."

"Good. Take your hat off. And the coat," Damien commanded and Aiden stared at him in a dumb way, when he realized what he wanted. "Come on, we don't have all day for this."

"Damien, I could do anything else..." he stuttered losing his temper.

"You enjoyed it before, didn't you?"

"Damien, I won't do this."

"That wouldn't be good for sis now, would it?" he answered and pointed at Aiden's chest with his chin. "Take it off." Aiden tried to delay his actions but reached soon for his hat and mask and threw them at his feet. He undid the coat and let it fall to the floor revealing his white sweater which he lately took off to show the last layer of his clothing on his upper body; a dark and loose t-shirt. "See, this wasn't that bad. Go on."

"Damien... " Aiden started in a calm but firm tone.

"Go. On." Damien propped his chin upon his palm and clearly enjoyed the show. "You could do some dancing, or some other shit. You know, like before Merlaut."

Pearce clenched his jaws in anger or embarrassment, Damien couldn't tell. He didn't answer to Damien's mocking, instead he pulled off the t-shirt with a swift move, standing now with his chest bare before his ex-partner.

"No need to be shy, Aiden. It's not like I haven't seen you naked before," Brenks murmured and admired the other man's body without commenting anymore. Aiden's chest rose and dropped violently as he tried to reassemble his fast and heavy breath. Fear started to take over his usually calm mind, giving him a feeling that was moderately new for him; stress. Inability to handle his body's impulses such as the shaking that he was now trying to tame.

Through his physical and mental strength, this was different. Before, though he stated otherwise, trusting Damien was something obvious, and he didn't change since the accident. But Pearce sure has changed, so have the circumstances, making this so very strange and alien to him. Now he had no smartphone, no gun and slowly but definitely he was getting rid of his clothes. Defenseless, that's what he was. Defenseless against Damien's cravings.

"I missed you, you know," Damien spoke again as Aiden undid his jeans to slide them off. "I missed waking up next to you in the morning. That was such a painful end of our... our relationship."

"We both lost important parts of our lives," Aiden muttered.

"And bodies," Brenks added and caressed his leg carefully. "Listen here, Aiden. I never wanted that little girl to get hurt. You have to understand that."

The trousers fell to the floor, but Aiden had to crouch clumsily to tie up his shoes and pull them off before he could strip completely. Also his socks soon disappeared off his feet. Aiden's shoulders were hung forwards as if he tried to cover his body using them as a shield. He felt ashamed and angry at the same time. He still couldn't understand how his former lover could do this.

No, actually he could understand that. No matter how much he liked lying to himself, he knew Damien, and somewhere deep inside him, he wasn't even surprised.

"You look better than I remembered," Damien observed. "Have you been working out or something?"

"Running around and killing criminals, while you've done nothing," the other man answered bitterly as Damien laughed shortly.

"Always witty, aren't you? Though your jokes aren't as good as mine, such a shame..." he said and threw his head back. "Come closer." Aiden took a few steps towards him unwillingly. "Closer." Another few steps. He was now standing briefly half a yard away from Damien, forcing him to look up to see his face. "Good."

Aiden flinched and clenched his teeth again when Damien's left hand fell on his back and got lower to stroke his ass. His thumb got beneath the elastic of the man's trunks making him tense and breathe out uneasily. Soon he let his entire hand into Aiden's underwear and fondled his buttock slowly.

"Don't even think about trying to snap my neck or anything like that, boy," Damien warned him showing him that he picked out the gun again.

"Wouldn't even think about it," Pearce lied still biting his jaws harder together. "Let's get this over with."

"Oh, are you that eager? I thought I could play around some more. You used to love that," he responded letting go of his body. "On your knees, then."

Aiden tried to not sigh in relief, but couldn't help himself. He got down willingly and made Damien chuckle silently.

"Not a word," the younger man muttered under his breath.

"I didn't want to say anything. Maybe besides that I didn't remember you like giving..."

"Shut up."

"Don't be mad."

Aiden snorted sarcastically when Damien's fingers brushed through his brown hair, the way he did many times. It stung him that he could actually get back with him. He thought about it often, how he could admit that he's still not over him, but not like this. Never like this.

" 'Don't be mad'? Are you fucking serious?" he asked steadying himself with his elbows on Damien's knees and thighs. "It's not like you've kidnapped my sister and are about to rape me."

"Let's not use such words. It's you paying me for your sister, don't disappoint me," Brenks said and rubbed a tender spot behind Aiden's ear. His muscles tensed but he ground against his hand unawarely. "Oh, Aiden. I know almost all of your body's secrets. How well do you know mine?"

He didn't answer and instead unzipped and unbuttoned Damien's jeans, soon pulling them down a little and revealing his underwear. This was all so familiar. If not these circumstances and this place... No, he couldn't think about it like that. Damien meant nothing to him anymore... or that's what he wanted to think. It would make everything easier.

Aiden slowly pulled down Damien's boxers too, revealing his privates and soon wrapping his fingers around his length which was still asleep, though not for long. He gave him a few dry strokes and proceeded to lower himself to get ready for the follow-up. 

He licked Damien's length slowly, thankful for no comments coming out from the other man's mouth. If Aiden wouldn't think about it and just did it, it wouldn't be so bad after all, he thought. After all, it wasn't the first time he did it.

He felt Damien's cock grow harder in his grip, as he just pressed his tongue against it and moved his head the way he usually did, hoping it would be enough to get this over with a little quicker. After a moment, he moved away and just stroked him, struggling internally and not quite wanting to go on.

"Stop touching me," he hissed, irritated with Damien's affectionate caresses left on his head and shoulders. "I'm uncomfortable enough without your fucking around."

"Brings back memories, eh?" Brenks chuckled and sighed when Aiden's lips closed on the tip of his cock again, wetting it slightly. "But I enjoy that, so I won't stop. Pay to claim the prize," he mumbled and patted Pearce's head in satisfaction. Aiden wanted to let go of him and say something more, but Damien grabbed him by his hair and forced him to take his length deeper, making him choke a little.

Aiden's eyes got all watery and when he blinked a small tear rolled down his cheek. He tried to catch air frantically and he was breathing heavily when Damien finally let go of his head.

"Don't do that again or I'll fucking kill you," Pearce muttered and coughed a few times.

"Yes, talk dirty to me," the older man joked and lift Aiden's chin a little to take a look at his green eyes and swollen lips. He noticed some saliva dripping from one corner of his mouth and down on his thumb. Aiden's face was tense, his face was flushed and he was trembling a little. "Damn, you're hot. I was imagining you like this way too many times after bedtime."

He let go of his chin and grabbed his hair again to guide him carefully. Aiden opened his mouth again and swallowed around his cock, burying almost its entire length in his mouth and throat. Small flicks of his tongue forced a groan of pleasure escape Damien's lips as he shut his eyes and pushed him a little faster forwards and back again. Aiden's fingers were clenched on Damien's hips as he pulled him somewhat closer. He gagged and made Damien let go to catch some breath. He used his hand to pleasure Brenks while he prepared himself for another dive down onto him.

"Slow down a little, your sis won't run away," Damien said and caressed Aiden's shoulder possessively.

"You're a fucking douchebag," he answered under his breath, but slowed down his hand's movements a little and just took him into his mouth again carefully.

"Oh don't say so. I know you love me anyway," Brenks laughed and scratched him behind his ear again. Aiden flinched but continued sucking him obediently.

Damien felt his climax creep up into his body and spreading a hot electric feeling all over his him. He grunted in a low voice as his muscles tensed. He stopped Aiden and moved him away from his cock again.

"Just let me finish and go," Aiden muttered seeing that Damien's breath quickened.

"I will but I just... I don't want to let you go yet. You look really handsome down there," he said fondly and stroked his chin, wiping away some of the blood that dripped down there earlier. "You have to come back, you know. I'm not done with you yet. But for now, if you insist..."

Pearce wanted to say something, but instead gasped in surprise when Damien forced him to choke on him rapidly. Again. In submission he finally tried to please his former partner moving his tongue a little. A salty taste was growing inside his mouth as Damien moaned and just before he finished in his mouth a few words escaped his lips.

"You better swallow it, boy."

Aiden felt Damien's come run down his throat and frowned when he realized that he couldn't really swallow it, even if he wanted to. Some dripped out of his mouth and on the floor. He gagged, but Damien wouldn't let him go until he swallowed all of it, that was clear. Brenks was moaning quietly and murmuring while feeling the great electric tingling in his whole body. His fingers were tangled in Aiden's hair and when he felt that he managed to swallow most of the load, he pulled him off and patted his head while leaning back in the chair.

"Good boy. Look at me," he commanded with a weak voice.

Pearce was breathing heavily and stray tears were running down his cheeks. He looked devastated with Damien's come running down his chin and chest. Shivers were making him shake a little.

"Get up here. Come on, stand up."

Aiden procrastinated, but listened. He wasn't sure if his knees could hold the weight of his body.

Damien zipped his jeans and made the other man sit in his lap. His hands were now on Aiden's lower back and sides, exploring his tense muscles. Aiden looked away from him, not capable of feeling anything else but disgust, when Damien wiped the remains of their act off his face and forced him to lick his fingers.

"I promise I'll repay you next time, boy," he murmured and pulled him closer to kiss his chest and collarbones. "But for now, put your clothes on. Sis is waiting downstairs."

 


	2. [My Love is Winter]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Way to early to add another one, but I just felt like doing it. I still have like 34 pages on my drive, maybe this will be the first fanfiction that I actually finish.

Aiden's head felt weirdly empty when he followed Damien through corridors and down some stairs. They didn't talk at all. Between the steps they took, Damien's smile was slowly fading and he glanced over his shoulder at Aiden with a worried look. It took him some more time before he actually spoke.

"You alright, boy?" he asked, but didn't slow down. They were almost at the magazine where Nicky has lived for the past few days.

Pearce snorted and shook his head slowly.

"What do you think? I don't want this, Damien. That's not the way it should happen," he answered bitterly and slowed down a little, when he saw that the other man did that. Apparently Damien's leg started hurting and his breath got shallow.

"There's a lot of things I didn't want to happen the way they happened. Too late to regret, to early to forget, we used to say, remember?" he muttered and stopped walking entirely before he leaned against the wall. "Sorry, it's just... This motherfucker likes to remind me of the Merlaut. You have that in common. Both hurt like hell itself but I couldn't live without you, y'know."

Aiden fixed the hat on his head and sighed. His eyes would be filled with tears of anger or maybe sadness, but he wasn't able to feel anything, just this emptiness and shame. He felt dirty and exposed in some way. Humiliated. No way he would tell his sister how he saved her ass from his toxic partner.

 _'A toxic EX-partner'_ Aiden quickly added in his thoughts but a different thought popped up just as quickly.  _'A toxic ex-partner whom I still love, though he is an abusive son of a bitch. '_

"I love you, Aiden," Damien said in low voice when they started walking again.

Pearce didn't answer at first, just looking down at the back of Damien's feet moving slowly in front of him.

"Bullshit. You wouldn't do this. You would never do any of those things," he finally let out, a little bit louder and faster than he meant to.

The older man didn't say a word and looked down. Aiden couldn't recognize the emotion in his posture and he couldn't guess either. Damien was too proud to show perplexity or any negative or unclear feelings at all. Other than anger, of course.

They continued walking in silence until they came out of the smaller corridor and into a big hall with stacked packages and metal containers. Right in front of them was the harbor and a breeze was blowing at their faces. It would be delightful to breathe some fresh air, but unfortunately it smelled of oil and gasoline. Luckily Aiden didn't have anything against any of these scents and Damien didn't even care anymore after spending so much time at the magazine.

They walked over to a smaller door on the other side of the hall. Damien greeted two of his men and gestured at them to leave him and Aiden alone. After that he turned to the Vigilante and tilted up his chin a little to look at him from above. Pearce thought about how similar that look was to the one he wore when Aiden knelt between his legs. He shuddered.

"Look, before we walk in there, I just want to say that I'm sorry. I should never have done that. And I shouldn't have done any of the things I did to you before," Brenks said carefully picking out the right words.

Aiden didn't answer at first. He just got one step closer and looked up to his face, almost touching Damien's forehead with the peak of his hat. And then he snorted. And then he started laughing, actually laughing, starting with a small laughter which just shook his shoulders a little and turning into a loud, foreign laughter making his eyes all watery. Damien stared at him in confusion. Hearing Aiden laugh was a thing that only happened in people's imagination.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Good one, Brenks," Pearce finally managed to let out and started to calm down that outbreak. "Did you actually think I'd fall for that? I'm not _that_ stupid."

"What do you mean 'fall for that'?" Damien hissed frowning.

"Did you actually think I could forgive you for what you've done? Ever? Just like that?" he snapped his fingers and sighed, killing the last chuckle. "Wow, Damien, I thought better of you. I mean it. I can't understand how I still care about you, after the things you've done."

"You're not an angel yourself, Aiden."

"I am NOT the one trying to apologize for raping you. Or for kidnapping your family. Or abusing you mentally over a period of several years." Aiden's voice was calm but he felt a dangerous cold and warmth spreading in his body at the same time.

He never realized when tears started flowing down his cheeks again and he didn't want them to do that. With his hand he wiped away the signs of his weakness (or maybe was it anger?) off his face and automatically reached for his smartphone but found the shitty oldschool phone that Damien gave him. He almost threw it on the ground in a wave of feelings suddenly bubbling up inside of him.

"You manipulated me, Damien. You made me into the wreck I am today, but hell if I wouldn't come back like an obedient dog if you told me that you love me. Like you did now," he continued in a deep voice, almost growling out the words. "I always thought I was hardy, Damien. I thought I was resistant. You made me like that, and now look at me!" he raised his arms along his sides and laughed through his tears. A fake laughter this time. "I hate that I still love you, and I should've let it go a long time ago, because you broke me." Aiden growled out the last two words and let his hands find their way into his pockets.

Damien stood still for a second or two, but though his shock, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. His arms quickly wrapped around Aiden's body to hug him close in an automatic act to protect him. What he didn't consider was that 1. Aiden was stronger than him and holding him against his chest was a rather challenging task, and 2. He couldn't protect Aiden from himself.

After at least half a minute of struggling and cursing, Aiden decided to give up. He calmed down and just made his arms work their way to the back of Damien's body and hugged him, resting his head against his shoulder and dry-sobbing, into his neck.

"You're not broken, boy."

"You know nothing about me anymore, Damien. I'll work the jobs as payment, damn, I'll fuck you as payment. But after this is done, I do never want to see you again," Aiden muttered and sobbed harder, squeezing the older man almost painfully. "Fuck, who am I trying to trick. I'm just afraid that one day I'll have to put a bullet in your head."

"I would be honored," Brenks murmured and stroked Aiden's back lightly.

"I hate you so much," he muttered just before Damien moved away from him a little, took off his hat and kissed his lips possessively while pulling him closer.

Aiden kissed him back as small sobs escaped him again. He grabbed Damien by his head, while his other hand was way lower. The older man moved away from him when he felt that Pearce's hand reached into his back pocket and took the smartphone he confiscated earlier. He grabbed his wrist and squeezed, making Aiden inhale in surprise and pain and let go of the phone, which fell directly into Damiens other hand.

"And I almost thought you meant it, son of a bitch."

"What I did doesn't erase what I said," Aiden growled, massaging his wrist while Damien put the smartphone back into his pocket.

"Bullshit. Are you done, or do you have anything more to try to steal from me?" Brenks asked harshly and backed away from him.

Aiden was rather confused. Damien looked... hurt? He couldn't think of a time when that emotion appeared on his face last time. He dried the tears from his face and touched his lips with two fingers, almost able to feel the warmth of Damien on them.

"Let's go, Aiden."

 

 

 

 

"I can't believe it, why did you never tell us?"

"I didn't want you to be in danger, Nicky."

"By LYING to me? We would be prepared!"

They were driving through Pawnee, getting deeper to the center of Illinois. Aiden wanted to make sure, that they were far away from the city, when he dropped them off somewhere where his problems wouldn't bother them anymore.

"You killed people, Aiden. That's not who you are. Or is it?" Nicky's voice shook. "How did you get me out of there?"

Aiden looked at Jackson's reflection in the mirror. He was sitting in the backseat and looked out through the window in silence.

"That's not important. Let's say I haven't really finished paying Damien yet," Aiden finally said and turned his green eyes back to the road before him. "I'll drop you off in Dixon. I have some money you can take, move as far from goddamn Chicago as you can. Maybe Dallas or at least Denver. They won't find you."

" 'You'? So you aren't coming with us?" Nicky stared at him, almost shouting at this point.

"No, sorry Nicky. You have to understand, you can't contact me," the man tried to explain calmly.

"That's it then? You're leaving us forever?"

They both flinched when they realized it was Jackson's voice from the backseat. His eyes were open wide and his chin shook as if he was about to start crying.

"Will we ever see you again, uncle?" he asked again.

Aiden opened his mouth but shut it again. Nicky was also clearly waiting for an answer.

"I am so sorry Jacks. I don't think so," he finally said in low voice, not looking at any of them.

 

 

 

 

It was raining. Not just raining; every now and then a lightning shined up the dark sky. Aiden thought this weather was a perfect representation of all the unclear feelings piling up inside of his chest. The taxi driver in the front seat didn't speak to him and Pearce was very grateful for that. He squeezed the pathetic phone that Damien gave him in his pocket, not really sure what he should do. With a bored expression he turned his eyes to the window and observed some raindrops travelling quickly on the other side of the glass. To not think about what just happened, he tried to not think about anything at all. He was trying to remember all the jobs he had to do after he freed himself from Damien, just to keep his mind busy, but it didn't help. He still saw Nicky's and Jacks' faces before him, crying when he said goodbye and walked over to the yellow taxi. Instead he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on sleeping instead. The driver turned on the radio and for once the reports weren't all about anything he has done. One of the songs he had on his smartphone's playlist was on, he realized after a moment of listening.

_'Silent fog_

_Let's pass and wither_

_From the cold that swas me flat_

_My love is winter_

_My love is lost'_

He was about to fall asleep when he felt the flip phone vibrate in his grip. He flinched and opened it to answer.

"Yeah?"

"Did you say your last goodbye, boy?" he heard Damien ask calmly. Almost affectionately. Almost as if he actually cared. But he didn't say any of that, he remained silent. "I take that as a yes. Where are you?"

"You could just track me. In a taxi, I hope I'm on my way to Chicago, I can't see shit outside in this rain," Aiden muttered bitterly.

"Well, I didn't want to stalk you. Say shit like 'ten minutes away from me', that's just creepy."

"What do you want?"

"Me? Nothing, just wanted to make sure that you're alright."

"Well, once again: what do you think?"

Damien didn't answer at first, he just sighed. Aiden felt the awkward tension between them grow aggressively.

"Anyway, I'm glad you're back on my side, boy."

"Not really. Just working for you."

"I should repay you for the effort before the..."

Aiden wheezed and rested his head against the glass.

"No, you shouldn't. The best repayment would be you not touching me again," he said harshly in low voice, noticing that the driver lowered the sound of the music, probably to listen to him.

"That could be problematic, as it is a part of your payment," Damien answered and Pearce could almost hear him smile slightly. "But I don't want that to be just your duty, Aiden. Listen, I'm sorry for what I did. And for Merlaut. And for everything before that. I just want us to be... to be like..."

"Like before? Or, you know, be in a normal relationship, which is absolutely not what was going on before?" Aiden hissed, but calmed down instantly. "Let's talk when I get ho... when I get to your place. You still at the magazine?"

"No, I'm in my apartment. The one in the Loop, you know where I mean?"

Yes. He knew exactly where he meant. It was the last place they were at the night before Merlaut. Fucking, of course. They were so sure they would succeed at the bank account robbery, because they've done that so many times. No worries. No regrets. Just steamy sex on the kitchen floor. And then in the bed. And in the shower. Pleasant shivers were travelling down Aiden's spine just when he thought about it, but then he remembered other things that happened in that apartment.

That one time he got sad and drunk in a local bar. Damien navigated his smartphone and carried him home, four blocks.

That one time Damien rode a motorcycle right through a display window and Aiden spent three hours trying to tweeze the shards out of his wounded body while Damien was laughing through his groans of pain, just so Aiden wouldn't be so worried.

And those times he and Damien got drunk after they failed a job. It usually ended with broken furniture and bruises all over their bodies, more than several times topped with painful, angry sex, just because of frustration and too much alcohol rushing through his veins. Usually it was Aiden who tried to make up after one of those fights, but it only got him more bruises.

Back then Aiden thought it was worth it, the pain. He still hasn't figured out if he was right or wrong.

"Yes. I know where."

"Good. See you soon. You're twenty minutes away from me."


	3. [Envy]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here comes another one! I'm not very patient, I just wanted to upload some more.  
> PLEASE, please, please, leave comments. I love comments.
> 
> Also, there's more kinda graphic smut in this one.
> 
> Enjoy!

The second Aiden walked through the door, he knew something was different. Or maybe just the same way it usually was when he entered this apartment. That really was different than what he experienced under the past year.

The apartment was just as he remembered it to be, just more dirty. It wasn't big, to the left was a bathroom, a small living room with a sofa and a tiny TV. Next to the living room was an old kitchen. The sink was full of empty alcohol bottles and forks. Just forks, Damien never used anything else to eat if the food had a container. That was a habit that used to drive Aiden crazy, but now it just felt weirdly distant. But yet so domestic.

If he instead of left went to the rooms to the right, he would go into a bedroom with a wardrobe and a queen sized bed. Clothes and weapons seemed to be placed around the room in big hurry and Aiden just shook his head. Damien wasn't a very organized person, at least not when it came to actual rooms and space, not just his computers and hard drives.

The next room was the most important one. It was filled with technology and garbage. Damien was sitting in front of one of the three monitors and drank a coffee from a big Starbucks cup which he later put next to the other big Starbucks cups, that were unlikely the one who left Brenks' fingers, empty.

"You use that like some kind of decoration?" Aiden dared to joke, poking at the cups with his chin. Damien flinched.

"Didn't hear you come in. Didn't expect you to have the key either" he remarked and leaned against the backrest of the chair.

"I hooked them on my own keys once. For some reason I never unhooked them," Pearce said bitterly. "You need anything, or may I go to sleep? I'm fucking tired."

"Well, I'm not sure. You going to shower?" he asked, staring back at the screen and typing something.

"Probably. What about that? " Aiden asked and leaned against the door frame.

Damien smirked at the screen.

"Come here after you're done. You don't have to put your clothes on."

Aiden glared at him angrily grinding his teeth, but didn't comment.

"Towel?" he asked shortly instead.

"Put one extra on the hanger. The green one."

Pearce nodded and went back to the corridor to take off his coat, hat and shoes. After that he went straight for the bathroom and locked the door carefully. He breathed out loudly and rested the back of his head against the door. His heart was beating quickly and he tried to calm down his pulse a little by breathing slowly, but it didn't help. He was terrified. Of course that he expected it would go like this, but he still couldn't accept that.

Slowly he moved further into the bathroom and started to take his clothes off. When he walked in behind the shower curtain, he felt somewhat safer, but there was still something more bugging him, more than the uncomfortable thought that he will have to face Damien, when he cleans himself. He wasn't afraid of the actual fact, that he would go out and have sex with Damien. He has done much worse things in life, he could do it, even if it was someone he didn't have any feelings for. The thing that really terrified him was that he could get attached to Brenks again. That the stupid sentimentality would ruin everything he was trying to restore for the past year, all newly acquired independence. 

He turned the water on and let it soak his body. He let himself lean against the dirty grey wall and sigh shutting his eyes, while the hot water streamed down on his head, neck and and everything below. He picked up Damien's shower cream and squeezed out some. Immediately after he rubbed it into his body, he recognized the familiar smell that he usually assigned to Brenks. There were several other bottles on the floor and it took Aiden a while to find the one with shampoo, that wasn't empty, and when he finally did, he froze.

This wasn't the usual thing Damien would buy. It was purple. It smelled sweet, like lilies and the most important part; it was a woman's shampoo. Aiden stormed out of the shower and looked around the bathroom. He dug in the pile of dirty clothing to find some more evidence that Damien had someone else, when he was gone. Soon, he found it. A blue bra, not too big, and smelling the same way the shampoo did.

"What was that noise? Are you fine?" he heard Damien shout from his room.

"Yeah, it was nothing," he answered and let the bra fall to the floor. Eventually he got back into the shower, and put the foreign product into his hair because of lack of other options.

It didn't take him long. But then he just let the water flow out the rest of the foam of him for a while. He wasn't sure if it was a few minutes, or an eternity, but the water started turning cold, when he finally decided that he was clean and ready to face Damien. He turned off the water and reached for the green towel hanging exactly where Brenks told him it would. He dried himself slowly. He rubbed his hair carelessly and left the towel hanging around his hips. Finally came the time to enter the battlefield.

"At last," Damien muttered and leaned back when Pearce walked into the computer room. He looked at him with unhidden satisfaction. "Come here."

Aiden hesitated at first but then walked over to Damien and stood next to his chair. Close enough for him to touch him, but not too close. Damien didn't even move. He looked up to Aiden and his gaze followed a water drop that ran down his neck and over his chest. After a few seconds he stood up and pulled Aiden's not protesting body delicately closer by his hips.

"I would never think that seeing you belonging to me this way could turn me on as much as it does," he murmured and rested his face against Aiden's wet forehead and hair, but he moved back just after a moment. "That's not your shampoo."

"Neither is it yours," Pearce answered stiffly. A strange envious feeling filled him, but he tried to remain indifferent.

The older man chuckled and caressed his back gently with his left hand.

"Oh, don't tell me you're jealous," he snickered, clearly not waiting for another answer. "You were gone for a year, Aiden. I am allowed to have some fun, when my favorite partner leaves me, aren't I?"

Aiden remained calm when Damien turned him around and pushed a little to make him sit on the desk, knocking over some of the coffee cups. Damien's lips kissed his neck slowly, but clearly eagerly.

"But that wasn't many times. It wasn't the same with those random close minded people," he purred and Aiden's body stiffened even more, surprised by the pleasant tingling. A warmth was spreading in his chest, slowly moving lower and lower. But he wasn't sure if he should enjoy Damien's touch on his wet skin, not sure if he should love his long-awaited kisses and unusual but not entirely alien delicacy. "You know how big my needs are."

Pearce couldn't help but lift his hands a little to touch his partner's chest and stomach through his shirt. Damien was never the muscle type, so Aiden was more than surprised when he realized he could feel tense muscles underneath his soft skin. It was probably not the result of training but rather not eating, Aiden realized when he started remembering Damien's poor eating habits when he wasn't around. Before that thought could reside in Aiden's head for any longer, Damien rested his hands on the surface behind him and bent over a little bit more to kiss Aiden's lips lightly, pulling him out of his thoughts. This wasn't the same roughness he encountered this morning, it was rather something from many months back. Damien's hand pulled his hips closer to his own and stroked his thigh making Aiden shiver as his unwanted arousal grew.

His mind was one thing, but his body couldn't trick anyone. He hasn't gotten laid in a long while and no one knew better than Brenks how to handle him.

Finally Damien broke the kiss and moved over to bite his right ear slightly. He knew how much Aiden liked when he touched his ears. His fingers were clenched on Damien's shirt, not pushing him away or pulling him closer, just trying to hold him exactly where he was supposed to be, but Damien moved back a little and tilted up his chin lazily. He shoved his other hand between Aiden's legs, flinging away the towel and leaving him bare before him.

Aiden was all shaky, he couldn't understand how Damien could bring him into this state so quickly. He really wasn't planning on enjoying it, he wanted Brenks to feel bad for what he was doing. But he just couldn't. He was aching with need and his arousal was spreading like electricity in his entire body. It was overwhelming, when Damien kissed him again while massaging his inner thigh gently, but firmly. Possesively. His entire body language was screaming ' _mine'_.

"I see you like it, boy," Damien murmured when they parted their lips again. He grabbed Pearce's cock and stroked it slightly to hear a frantic shift in Aiden's breathing. "It's been a while, haven't it? You're _emitting_ frustration, I don't know how I can still contain myself."

Pearce snorted and tossed back his head when Damien let go of his chin to explore his chest instead.

" 'Emitting'? Seriously? You washed your tongue while I washed my hair, Damien?" he rasped out and put his hands on his shoulders instead.

"Maybe. Bedroom?"

"I guess," Aiden muttered and stood up clumsily when Damien let go. He grunted when he felt how weak his knees were and grabbed the desk again to reassemble his balance.

They walked over to the bedroom quickly and Damien chuckled at how awkward the situation was.

"I would carry you, if not my leg. It would be way hotter though," he stated when they finally got inside the dark bedroom. "Lay down on the bed," he told him and as Aiden fulfilled his demand, Damien pulled his shirt off. The bed shook violently when he sat down on it and undid the brace stabilizing his leg. After that he slid off his jeans and socks and turned around to face Aiden, crouching forward to sit between his limply parted legs.

Damien smiled with satisfaction when he saw how hard the younger man was, aching for his touch. Pearce's face was emotionless and calm as usual, but his breathing was heavy and uneven.

"Tell me, Aiden..." Brenks begun while bending over him to almost touch his lips with his own. He stroked his side and felt Aiden shiver under the pressure. "If I fuck you now, will it count as your payment or my apology?"

Aiden murmured something unclear in answer and lift his hands to pull Damien closer. The warmth of his body was nothing against how hot Aiden was, his skin almost burning as his desire grew. With frantic movements he tried to pull off Brenks' boxers, but Damien stopped him with a firm grab on his shoulder.

"Not so fast, boy. I didn't hear what you said," he growled in a low tone, when Aiden pulled off his beanie roughly.

"That's not important," he answered and reached forward with his face to greet Damien's lips again. He knew this feeling, when Damien teased him to see how far he could go, but it wasn't possible for him to resist that evening. It was as if he was in heat, longing for the man he was so disgusted by earlier the same day. Longing for the well known touch of his long-term lover.

"Oh, but it's very important. I don't know if I should handle you like I did before, or... like I did... _before_ ," Damien purred and kissed him again. Aiden groaned into his mouth shortly and dragged him closer in a needy way, as Damien flicked his tongue and nipped Aiden's lower lip with his teeth before he moved away again. "So? Will you tell me?"

"Your choice," he rasped in answer and huffed when he saw Damien suck one of his fingers while looking down on him with a smirk. "Whatever you want to do, just do it faster, for fucks sake."

"Now you are impatient," Damien hissed and his hand traveled lower to caress Aiden's cock again. After a few movements he got even lower and slid the wet finger inside his body getting a loud sigh in answer. "You really need to get laid more often, I can't ever remember you being this horny. It scares me," he chuckled.

"Shut the fuck up and fuck me," Aiden let out under his breath, grinding against Damien's finger. He reached out to the night table for lube which, surprisingly, stood in the same place as always.

"I hope that Blume isn't filming this. It would be quite embarrassing if they ever found out what a dirty little slut you are," Damien whispered right into Aiden's ear and kissed his neck fondly while putting a second finger inside of him, even deeper. Aiden whimpered in pain and pleasure at the same time and didn't answer to his partner's mocking.

"You _can_ hurry up, I'm not some virgin, Damien."

"You've had a long break."

Damien pulled out his fingers out of him and squeezed out some lube which he later spread with his slick fingers around and inside of Pearce's entrance. Finally he let Aiden pull his boxers off and he kicked them of the bed. He spread the lube on his painfully hard cock and positioned himself, ready to thrust into him slowly.

"Condom?" Aiden managed to say and Damien just laughed.

"Oh come on, seriously?" he chuckled, but Aiden's face tensed.

"Well, I wasn't the one sleeping around."

"I'm all clean Aiden."

"I hope, otherwise I'll get one more reason to kill you."

Damien snorted again and buried himself inside Aiden slowly, trying not to hurt him, though he didn't prepare him enough. Pearce whimpered and clenched his fingers on Damien's back. Brenks didn't move until Aiden did it, so he would be sure he was comfortable.

"And you know, that I always have condoms."

"Right, I see how you have one right now", Aiden remarked, but didn't get the wanted bitter effect because of a low moan that escaped his lips when Damien entered him entirely.

The room was dark, but Damien could still see small sweat drops appearing on Aiden's well-build chest and on his forehead. He could just hope they were actually there because of the pleasure and not the pain alone.

"Are you alright?" he asked to make sure, and kissed his chin lightly when he nodded in silence. Damien's moves got faster and more needy. Aiden grunted and tossed his head back with a low groan.

"You really do _feel_  good, Aiden," Brenks murmured and kissed him on the lips again, needing to touch as much of him as he could. "Oh, how I missed you," he moaned into Aiden's mouth making him squirm in a sudden wave of arousal.

As Damien's thrusts were getting faster, Aiden let his fingers stroke his head lightly and let out a growl of pleasure. He was so close now, his cock throbbing and begging for that little friction Damien's stomach gave him.

"Touch me," he pleaded in low voice, almost too ashamed to beg louder.

"I didn't quite hear you?" Damien teased him and lowered his head to suck the skin on his collarbone while making his moves deeper, but way slower.

"Touch me," Aiden repeated, tortured by the unresolved pleasure. His body begged for merely a touch, in some particular places.

"Well, I'm touching you quite a lot right now. Have you thought about my question?" Damien asked slowing down even more, barely moving now.

"What?" Pearce muttered numbly and cursed, when he tried to reach to his lower parts to treat himself, but Damien stopped him. "The punishment or apology thing?"

"Payment, Aiden, payment not punishment. Yes, that thing."

"Come on, let me come... Oh." Aiden chuckled bitterly in realization. "You are a son of a bitch, Brenks. Let's say _apology,_ asshole."

Damien grinned and picked up his moves. Aiden cried out and shut his eyes, letting Damien pound his hips against his ass again.

"Good choice," Brenks breathed and made his moves way faster. Aiden was groaning and begging for release, and at some point Damien finally gave it to him. His hand travelled down to his cock and stroked it repeatedly letting himself come with a grunt and curse, when he heard Aiden's final moan and his come was spilling all over his stomach and Damien's hand. Damien didn't stop just yet, he made several more thrusts letting the pleasure that demanded to be felt, be felt and take over both his and Aiden's body.

He laughed at the younger man's stupid O-face and sounds he was giving away, similar to bleating. He remembered that he was always so ridiculously noisy in bed, when they weren't somewhere in public. Then he usually could be quiet, but he preferred it the loud way.

When they finally parted, Damien fell and stretched out on the bed right next to his partner, reaching for tissues on the bedside table to dry them. He actually enjoyed waking up in a sticky mess in the morning, it was like a reminder of an amazing night, but he knew that it drew Aiden insane. When he dried the semen off Aiden, he was surprised to hear Pearce laughing.

"What's so funny?" Damien asked and covered Aiden's mouth with his other hand, as he started chuckling himself. He was done with the drying, when Aiden finally managed to answer after moving Damien's hand.

"Everything. This is absolutely ridiculous, you just fucked me."

"That's nothing new." Damien threw the tissues off the bed and pulled up the sheet to cover them. Then he laid his head upon Pearce's chest and let one of his hand caress his hip, while the other one fondled his hair. "And the only ridiculous thing here is how you sound while getting off. I mean, no living person could ever find that hot."

"Yet you do," Aiden observed, but turned his face away from Damien's.

Cuddling wasn't always his thing, in contrast to Damien who loved it. He liked to talk after sex. He liked all the things Aiden wasn't fond of, but he did them anyway, always just to please Damien. But Brenks was used to it already, to the fact that Aiden didn't mind him hugging him close, but he rarely responded. Apparently for Aiden it was sex or nothing, even making out without any follow-up was a rarity.

"Yes. I also think that you, playing so cold and indifferent though I can feel how hot and horny you are is really sexy," Damien whispered while nibbling on his neck lightly. "Another round, or are you too tired?"

"Oh fuck you, Damien," Aiden murmured, still breathing heavily and turning away. "You seriously even consider another round?"

"Actually yes I do. You know how I like torturing you," Damien said, but didn't urge him.

Instead he chuckled and blew out air on Aiden's chest while wrapping his arms tighter around him.

"I love you, Aiden."

"I get it. Goodnight," Aiden muttered angrily and shut his eyes, trying not to think about Damien's warm body pressed up against his.

"That's not what people usually say."

 " ' _People_ '?"

"Come on Aiden, 's not what I meant..."

"Shut up, we're done. Goodnight," he repeated and turned his face even further away from Brenks.

Damien moved his face closer to his neck and started sucking the skin on the side of it, marking him with a bright red hickey. Pearce shivered.

"Goodnight, boy. Sleep well, tomorrow will be a rough day."


	4. [Deep_Web]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just... Yeah, this is almost everything I've written until now. I have like... two more chapters, and then it might take some time before next ones appear.  
> But I'll really try to finish this fanfiction, no joking.  
> This one is mostly... fluff? If I can call it that. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Surprisingly Aiden slept through all night without any dreams or waking up. He had this domestic and warm feeling for several seconds after he woke up because of a sunbeam peeking in through the window and shining down right at the part of his face that wasn't pressed against Damien's chest. Then the magic moment ceased and he realized what last night was all about. The sheets were still damp of their sweat.

Damien smirked with his eyes still shut, when he felt Aiden's stubble brush against the skin on his torso. He stroked his back slightly to let him know he was awake. Aiden muttered something sleepily, but Brenks didn't even try to understand what he was on about.

They weren't moving for several more minutes and Damien was pretty sure that Aiden fell asleep again, murmuring some meaningless sentences in his drowse. He could recognise a few words clearly, "Lena", "kill" and "fuck you". Also "son of a bitch" was a frequent phrase.

' _How sweet_ ' he thought. ' _Dreaming about me_.'

Suddenly Aiden gasped and quivered, opening his eyes and looking around anxiously, before he sighed and laid down again.

"God, I thought my nightmare was finished already. What time is it?"

"Still early. No need to worry."

"I'm not worried about anything."

Damien looked down at him skeptically while running his fingers through Pearce's hair.

"Then why are you so jumpy? You're all stiff, something wrong?"

"This is all worse in the sunlight, that's all."

"You mean what? Me?"

Aiden couldn't help but snort in short laughter.

"Didn't think about that until you asked, but well, yeah."

"You little prick," Damien murmured with a smirk and flipped over Aiden, bending over him while pressing his strong arms firmly against the mattress and steadying himself upon the Fox's chest. "Do I look better now?"

Aiden looked away, but smiled slightly.

"The usual way, when I watched you up close it was mostly in this position," he answered before Damien lowered his head and kissed his lips slowly. "Hey, don't," the younger man muttered angrily when he pulled Damien's face away from his. "We fucked, right? And I slept in your bed. That doesn't mean I've forgiven you, I've payed you. It doesn't matter how you word it."

"Come on, it's _our_ bed, we actually bought it together," Damien murmured, but backed off and laid on the sheets again.

Aiden didn't answer. He turned his eyes away from his lover and yawned loudly. Again, he turned his back on Damien to escape the embarrassment, but it didn't help a lot.

"I left my PC on scan last night," Brenks started and stretched his arms with a series of quiet cracks leaving his joints.

"Congratulations, you finally realized, that viruses won't speed up your computer?" Aiden muttered, but sounded interested anyway.

"Ha-ha. Not my _system's_ scan. I hacked my way into CtOS and," he picked up his smartphone from the floor beside the bed "I got a notification right now, that we found the guy."

The younger man flinched and turned around again, clearly intrigued. Sitting up on the bed, he gave Damien a sleepy gaze, nodding at him to go on.

"J.B. Markowicz. Defalt. Also known as the douchebag that stole our data."

"Your data. I have nothing to do with this."

Damien shook his head and moved closer to Aiden to show him the map, that was now displaying on his screen. There was a shiny blue dot, not far from where they were right now. Aiden could now clearly see that it was one of those underground clubs, that was getting quite popular lately for no particular reason. Dot ConneXion. Some people stated, that the music got better since they got a new DJ, but Aiden suspected, that it's popularity rose when it started to turn into a big crackhead centre.

"He works there?" Damien nodded in silence. "Do you think he'll expect us?" Pearce asked frowning and looked up to him.

Brenks put away the phone and shrugged his shoulders.

"Probably. He's pretty organised, we might need some help to trap him in that building and find him."

"Jordi?"

"Jordi."

"About that..." Aiden moved to the edge of the bed and stood up. Damien followed him with his gaze and enjoyed the view of his bare body, when Aiden opened the wardrobe and started looking for the clothes he left there before they split up. "Jordi doesn't really like me anymore."

"What did you do?" Damien laughed and made himself more comfortable, as he didn't stop staring at Aiden's ass with a smirk.

"Let's just say I ain't his number one client anymore. Someone has put six zeros on my head, and I guess he won't be very friendly when I meet him," he answered and held up an old, black worn out T-shirt with an illegible band name printed over the chest. "Of all the things I left, you chose to not throw out this?"

"Well, there's more if you dig deeper. I just thought you'd like that it's still here," Damien murmured and rubbed his eyes, while Aiden fit on the T-shirt. "But back on topic, Jordi is the best fixer we know. Do you think he would agree if we offered more than for the bullet in your guts?"

Pearce smirked and crouched to find some underwear at the place he usually kept it.

"More than a million dollars? Let's not go there," he chuckled while putting on some trunks he found and continued searching for jeans.

Damien bounced on the bed, clearly excited and crept to the edge, closer to Aiden.

"Come on, some hacking and blackmailing the Club and we're done! Not more than three days, it will be fun," he insisted and threw the sheet of his body, when he stood up stumblingly because of the lack of support on his left leg.

When Aiden put on a pair of trousers, Damien has just walked up to him limply and hugged him from behind. Pearce sighed.

"No. You know what happened last time, I won't let it happen again," he managed to say before Damien bent over his shoulder, turned Aiden's face and kissed him gently.

Aiden placed his hand on his, as if he wanted to break free, but finally he just turned around and pulled his lover closer. His hands clenched on Damien's naked butt and Brenks tried to back off in surprise, but didn't predict that the bed was way too close to take another step. They fell on it in a confused tangle of limbs and laughed awkwardly when their lips parted.

"Sorry," Aiden murmured and smirked slightly, but he didn't look sorry at all.

"It's not like I have anything against it," Damien answered and let his hand disappear underneath his t-shirt.

Despite all the things Aiden said, he wanted to forgive Damien so bad. He wanted to feel the warmth he felt right now, laying on his chest and just act as if he forgot it all. But he couldn't. He knew that this entire year and his unhealthy mind was the fault of the man laying naked underneath him.

"But you understand what I mean? We won't be messing with this. We planned Merlaut for weeks, and see how it turned out." Aiden's face tensed. "Nothing can happen to my family anymore, but I don't want you to lose Marcus. I don't want you to feel the way about me that I feel about you."

Damien flinched and stopped caressing his back.

"Not a word about Marcus or his mother. If there was a god, I'd pray to him for some fixers that would get rid of them so I don't need to think about it," he growled and tried to sit up, but Aiden pushed him back down again. He was looking down at Damien with surprised in his eyes, as Damien was usually more caring when it came to his only family. It made him wonder just what more happened when he was gone, that things took such a violent turn. 

"Alright, I tried to be gentle," he sighed. "Here's the truth, I don't really care about the relations with Elizabeth and your son."

" _Her_ son."

" _Her_ son. We're not going to fuck up again, and by that I mean, we don't hack the Club, or Merlaut. Not even the Lincoln Park Zoo. We can get another fixers, it doesn't have to be Jordi."

"Of course it has to be Jordi, Aiden..." Damien tried to get up again, but Pearce stopped him firmly. "Look, I know it might seem crazy, but Jordi could do a great job, he's one of the few sane fixers that we..."

" _Sane_? Damien, this guy put corpses into an ice cream truck and made me blow it up in the centre of Chicago to cover his tracks. I won't let you plan anything until you erase him from our to-do list," Aiden said sounding rather upset."

"So, you won't let me go?" Damien tilted his head with a smirk and straightened out his fingers faintly, his wrists hurting already because of Aiden's strong grip.

"I'll have to, otherwise this might get even more awkward than it already is. But you're not going outside without me until we settle things right," Pearce muttered and let go of him slowly. He wanted to stand up again, but this time it was Damien who grabbed him.

"You're such a mood killer sometimes, kiddo."

"A lot, actually. And I'm not in the mood for your games, we should get to work," Aiden murmured, but didn't struggle.

"You still owe me."

"I just put my clothes on, you could tell me before, I wouldn't bother," he said in a low voice with a whiny tone.

"Just do it for me?" Damien purred and smiled slightly.

"You should've realized I don't do things for you anymore. I do them to pay for my prize, remember?" Pearce answered harshly.

"You know what, Aiden? You could actually stop lying sometimes, for like... five seconds. I won't judge you."

"No, you won't."

They were glaring at each other in silence for a while. Damien just opened his mouth to say something, but he got interrupted by the vibrations of his phone on the night stand. They both looked that way and Brenks finally let go of him and tried to reach for the smartphone, but Aiden was faster.

" 'BadBoy 17'? You've got to be kidding me."

"It's not... It's a friend."

"I bet," Aiden answered the call and smirked at Damien's surprised expression. "Hello, Clara. I'm sure you forgot about me. After all I have to be way less interesting that the data-thief you've been hanging out with lately. And, you know, the guys who killed my niece and fucked up my partner's leg."

Damien flipped over and mimed "what the fuck are you doing?", but Aiden just smiled, waiting for an answer.

"Aiden?" the familiar 'censored' voice asked. "I... I can explain."

"Everyone is trying to explain things to me lately. I just don't want to hear it anymore," the man said calmly, but chilly while shaking his head. "It's not so strange anymore, that you 'tracked' Damien so quickly, if you've been in touch all the time. Probably fucked him too?"

"Aiden, I..."

He ended the call and put the phone on the nightstand again. Damien didn't say a word, still trying to proceed what he just heard.

"Wait... you knew her nickname?" he blurted out finally, all the playfulness and perkiness gone in a moment. "Wait, you said she did wha..."

"Oh just shut up, Damien," Aiden sighed suddenly. The smartphone vibrated again, but none of them moved to answer. "Go on. Pick it up. I'll go eat something, while you'll talk to another of your traitor-friends on the phone," he muttered angrily and stormed out of the room, leaving Damien alone on the bed.

 

 

 

"Found anything?"

"It's way harder when you refuse to give me my baby back."

"You seriously call your smartphone your 'baby'?"

"What, you got a problem with that? Thanks to you her screen is cracked too."

The sun was high in the sky as the day was passing by, but only one of the windows was letting the sunshine in. The rest of them were carefully covered to not reflect any light on their computer screens as they sat in the living room, Damien on the sofa and Aiden on the floor beneath it, leaning against the furniture.

Brenks has always adjusted computers to his hacking needs. Aiden never understood why he needed so many laptops, he didn't even use most of them. But Damien never threw them out, because if there was something he could get attached to it was only his partner and his technology junk. The simple laptop Aiden was using was fit especially to searching through the deep web and though its impossible ugliness and awful graphics, it was amazingly fast.

Aiden was still missing his smartphone though. He had no idea where Damien could've even put it. He searched through all his clothes and drawers in all the rooms while Brenks was showering. Probably brought it with him to the bathroom, because it was too obvious that Aiden would search for it.

"Well, you never called me your 'baby'," Damien joked and rubbed his eyes. "God, why is no one interested in a quick, safe job with a huge pay?"

"Because everyone knows people like us, and especially you. You don't do 'quick and safe' jobs. Also, we don't give a huge pay," Aiden observed and sighed. "I sometimes wonder what the hell is wrong with people, when I browse this shit."

"Like what?" Damien looked down on his partner's screen and burst out laughing. "You got yourself quite a fanbase. 'I'm looking for someone who could help me track down 'The Fox'. I think I'm in love with him and I am sure, that he would realize we should be together forever, when I show him my...'hacking skills'.' I think this girl would be disappointed that you're not into that."

He laughed, but Aiden wasn't amused. After Damien has been pranking him and showing his photos on huge billboards on the streets he was currently on, people grew to recognize him more often. Several times random teenagers basically took selfies with him in the background, when he was hacking ATM's or buying coffee.

"It's not funny."

"It's your fault, you shouldn't have been doing all that vigilanting."

"There's no such word, Damien," Pearce remarked and looked back down on his own screen. "Also, you were the one who made me 'famous'."

"Oh, don't give me all the credit. People love you, if they don't hate you! DeadSec wants you to be a part of them! Blume wants to rip your lungs out! No need to be anything but happy," he answered and typed in another page to search on.  "Pass me my phone."

"Where is it?"

"In my pocket."

Aiden looked at him again with lift eyebrows and then his gaze traveled to Damien's jeans.

"You really _are_ lazy."

"Why use hands, when you can use friends. In this case it works both ways," he murmured, but didn't look away from the screen.

Pearce hesitated but reached into his pocket and slid out the phone. He looked briefly at the screen before he passed it to Damien's outstretched hand. "Thirty six missed calls from Clara. You didn't answer, when I walked out?"

"What do you think? I just need to turn off vibrate, it's starting to annoy me."

They sat in silence another few minutes before Aiden rested his head against Damien’s leg and breathed out loudly.

"Give me my phone back, I need it."

"It's been barely a day, I think you might be addicted."

"You have fifty laptops in your drawers, not really the guy to judge," the Fox muttered and shut the laptop. "I need that data."

"Then you'll run away. Don't you think I know you, Aiden?" Damien answered and stopped scrolling for several seconds to look down on him. "See, you aren't denying. Because I'm right."

"Of course you're right," Pearce sighed and shut his eyes. " What about the fixers you hired at the magazine?"

"No. I took the cheapest and most miserable ones, so they wouldn't be able to kill you if you you were  stupid enough to hack your way inside instead of just asking me," Damien said grumpily.

"I love how you care about me," Aiden muttered sarcastically. "I think Blume has something to do with this. They don't really want us to lay our hands on that data again."

"Thank you, captain obvious. I told you that we need Jor..."

Aiden groaned angrily and put the laptop off his legs to get up.

"We're not getting Jordi. Stand up."

"Why? What do you think you're doing?" Damien asked and didn't even move, trying to figure out what Aiden was on about.

"Did you hide my phone in the couch?"

"I won't be giving it back."

"So it is in the couch. Stand up, I'll take it myself."

When Damien refused once again, Aiden took his computer without any unnecessary preludes and put it on the floor. His face was tense and Damien knew, that he wouldn't give up so easily.

"Damien, it will spare us time, I have important contacts in there," Pearce groaned again and bent over him to lift the pillows.

"Stop doing that, you won't find it anyway," the other man announced with a playful tone. And Aiden stopped.

"Liar, it's in your back pocket, isn't it?" he sighed and tried to pull Damien down on the floor, but he resisted firmly.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"No? Don't be so sure," Pearce muttered, before he lift him up before Brenks could oppose, and turned him around, so he would face the couch seat.

Damien struggled to get up again but Aiden sat astride on his legs and pushed his upper body down in the pillows. With a grunt, Damien reached back to grab Aiden's forearms, when he was trying to get to his pocket while still wrestling with Brenk's legs, but he finally surrendered letting Aiden pinch him down. He still wouldn't let Pearce grab the phone which was slightly leaning out from the pocket.

"Now this is awkward," he commented and tried to move away Aiden's hands. "It hurts, you know."

"Your leg or your feelings?" Aiden joked, but tensed his muscles harder to overpower Damien.

"Both. You're such a violent douchebag."

"Of course I am, haven't you been watching the news lately? There," he managed to let out when Damien's hands slipped and he had a chance to grab the smartphone. He rolled off of his partner catching his breath and sat on the floor again, while Damien tried to regain the feel in his legs.

"You aren't running away yet, now that's a relief," he hissed while trying to get up with a smirk.

"You put a password on it? You want to get extra three minutes to try to get it back or...?" Aiden turned his green eyes to the screen and frowned. He knew he had five chances, first he used the two passwords Damien usually used, but none of them worked. "A hint, maybe?"

"Why would I give you hints? It's not like I wanted you to get it back in first place," Damien answered and sat up on the couch. "There's no use, pass it to me."

"Do you always have to try to outsmart me? I'm not stupid, you know," he said and opened the computer again.

"What, you gonna hack it? My firewall?" Brenks laughed and made himself more comfortable on his seat. "You should show me what you've got, baby. Haven't seen you in action in a while. But not today, give me the phone, I'll type in the password and you can use it for now."

"Aren't you afraid that I might erase it?" Aiden glanced at him in disbelief.

"From inside? You really think it's easier that way? You know my skills."

"And you underestimate mine," Pearce muttered but passed him the phone.

He didn't look away from Damien's fingers when he entered the password.

"You sure about Jo..."

"Just let it go."

"Hurry up, then. We don't have that much time to lose, we need those fixers by yesterday," Damien said and gave him the unlocked phone. 


	5. [People_Change]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've almost ran out of chapters by now! But as I said, I'm not planning on abandoning this one, so just wait and new ones will probably appear.
> 
> Enjoy!

"I'm hungry."

"Make yourself a sandwich."

"Maybe not _that_ hungry," Aiden murmured and yawned. "And I really need some fresh air."

"It was usually me who made you go outside back in the days, not the other way around," Damien said in low voice and looked down at Aiden suspiciously.

He responded with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well, we generally used to go outside more often back then."

Brenks sighed. "So you wanna go out for for a walk?"

"And eat something, yes."

Damien shut his computer and chuckled.

"Sounds almost like a date to me. But you'll have to give me back your phone. By the way, any of your contacts answered?" he asked and stood up, stretching his back.

"No, you?" Aiden answered and also stood up to pass him the smartphone.

"Not really. This might be harder than I thought," Damien murmured and slipped it into his pocket. "Let's go then. It's 4.54 pm and we still have work to do when we get back. We’re not going anywhere far, I haven’t been drinking today and I don’t want to feel hell in my leg all night."

Pearce headed for the hall and put his shoes on. He reached for the mask and hat, when Damien looked at him critically.

"Could you not put that thing on your face?" Just once, that’s why people recognize you.

"I don't want Blume to have my face all over..."

"They probably got it anyway. _I want_ to see your face," Damien said in low voice and leaned against the door frame tilting his head. "Please?"

Aiden looked at him surprised by his sincerity. He turned around, feeling abashed and slowly put the scarf back on the rack. Damien looked rather delighted that he could convince Aiden to something so big so easily. He knew he wouldn't leave the house without that stupid mask, scarf or whatever, since he became the famous Vigilante. The white broken 'Z' became his signature and permanent lower part of his face, always ready to get in place when he could see cameras angled his way.

"But I'll still wear the hat" he muttered and grabbed his coat.

"If you must."

"Of course I must. Get dressed, I'll wait outside," Aiden added and put on the hat, before he opened the door and walked out to the grey corridor.

Damien joined him in a moment and locked the door. They walked downstairs in silence and only when they got out on the street, Aiden asked:

"Where are we going now?"

"I don't know, you were the one who wanted to go for a walk. I'm not very fond of... outside," Damien commented as they stopped.

"How about The Gage? It's cheap. It's Irish. It's close," Aiden said as Brenks chuckled.

"What, you're going back to your roots? Well, let's go then."

They continued to tread on the sidewalk. Damien was limping slightly, but he was in a much better condition than the day before. Because of the lack of conversation between them, he started to whistle some random pop songs that were on the radio lately. Unfortunately, his whistling was sounding more like the noises of a cranky fan. Aiden grunted.

"Damien, stop. I told you before that you are bad at _any_ form of music. Whistling counts too."

"Don't be so mean, at least I'm trying," Brenks hissed, but he stopped making the shrieking noise and sighed. "God, you must be fun at parties. Oh, I forgot you don't go to any."

Aiden wheezed and looked up to his partner grumpily.

"I just don't like loud music. But it's still better than the 'sounds' you make."

"Please, don't start discussing making sounds, because after last night we can both agree, that..."

"Enough," Pearce said a little bit louder. "Let's just... change the subject."

"Oh, what's that. A blush?" Brenks mocked him and patted his back, making him flinch. "I have an idea for tonight. Let's forget the job, I don't think one more or less day will count, really. We should get drunk."

"Damien, no", Aiden protested, maybe a little bit too quickly. Damien looked at him in slight confusion.

"Damien, yes," Brenks murmured and still had his arm around Aiden's shoulders. "Why not?"

"I just... Last time went terribly wrong, I didn't really feel like trusting you after that, and especially not now," he answered quietly.

"Could you just not bring those things up? 'Last time went wrong', 'we couldn't do it last time', just give me another chance!" Damien growled and adjusted his grip on Aiden's coat, pulling him a little bit closer. "People change, Aiden. You of all humans on earth should know that."

Pearce turned his face away from Damien, but still walked in the same speed.

"You've beaten the shit out of me, Damien. That's not something I can just 'forget'." He made a small pause when Brenks didn't answer. "Especially, because it happened more than once. And you know what? I could've defended myself or shoot you back then, but I didn't. I'm starting to seriously wonder if it was the right choice."

An awkward silence fell again, as Damien didn't really have any good answer to what Aiden said. The tension between them got really heavy and somber. Though it was supposed to be just a job, Aiden felt more and more clearly that leaving Damien again would be a hard task. Even though all the awful things he has done to him and all the things he said.

"Could we stop for a moment? There's a bench..." Damien pointed with his chin and soon they turned slightly left to sit down.

The pain in his leg wasn't very sharp yet, but he could still feel the well known itching that he hated. If he was sober more often, his body would be able to ignore it completely, but he wasn't used to that yet.

Damien rested his head against the back of the bench and breathed out loudly.

"Look Aiden, I'm..."

" '...sorry. I love you. We should be like before.' No, we shouldn't, Damien," Aiden finished his sentence, but didn't look at him.

"Why? I told you, I have changed."

"Because maybe I have changed too."

Damien pulled him closer as if he was afraid that Aiden might slip through his fingers and disappear. He wasn't sure what he should do, because Aiden's body was doing exactly the opposite of what he was saying. He put his head on Damien's shoulder, the way he did many times, and let Brenks hug him closer.

Aiden was lying. He was mostly lying to himself, trying to convince his mind that he didn't feel anything different towards Damien than hate. He wasn't sure though if it was still love or just sentiment, the impression that he wouldn't ever find anyone as good as him. Pearce didn't want to let go, but he realized that this situation could get awkward quickly.

"No one should see us like this. No one should see _me_ like this."

"Like what? _Gay_?" Damien chuckled. "You're so stupid sometimes, Aiden," he added before he turned Aiden's face to his with his other hand and kissed him lightly and then more deeply, when he didn't feel any resistance coming from his partner.

Aiden laid his hand upon his and grunted faintly into Damien's mouth. He moved away for a few seconds , but kissed his lips again, hungrily. Brenks pulled Aiden up on his lap, to make him sit astride on his legs, and let his hands disappear underneath the younger man's coat.

Aiden started sucking on Damien's lower lip and felt his tongue in his mouth again. Damien's mouth was too busy to chuckle at Aiden's longing, he just snorted slightly and smiled while taking off Aiden's hat to run his fingers through his hair. 

When they parted, Damien just looked at him for a longer moment, stroking the back of his neck. 

"Before it turns out you're too 'different' to stay with me, wanna make out some more?"

"God, yes," Aiden blurted out, but when Damien reached for him again, he moved away. "I mean, no, I meant no. No. Not here."

"But you still want to make out with me? Now that's a relief," Damien murmured, his face just an inch away from Aiden's.

"Let's go to that damn restaurant already. And home."

"As you wish, baby."

"Stop calling me that."

Aiden got up and wanted to help Damien to stand up, but he pushed away his hand and did it himself.

"I'm not entirely disabled."

"Fine, just wanted to help," Aiden muttered and rolled his eyes as he took his hat from Damien and put it on again. 

They continued walking in silence for a while, but finally Damien couldn't contain himself anymore.

"Aiden, are the things you said about Clara true?"

Pearce looked at him and lift his eyebrows.

"Would I lie? No, don't answer." He made a small pause and sighed. "She was playing for you. And me. And Defalt, and DeadSec too."

"How did you get to know?"

"Defalt showed me. When he hacked into the bunker after she granted him the access. Fucking bitch," Aiden growled and looked at Damien in a judgmental way. "You slept with her, didn't you?"

"Alright, I did," he answered after a moment and looked down on the ground. "And I was the one who asked her to find you and work with you."

Aiden remained quiet for another moment before shaking his head. Now that Damien said it, it all made sense, he couldn't quite say that he didn't expect it after the call in the morning.

 **"** I knew that that shampoo smelled familiar."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short, but if I didn't cut it here, it would be several kilometres long. 
> 
> To be continued in no time.


	6. Chapter 6

They saw the restaurant's banner flash before them on the other side of the road. They crossed it and opened the door. A small bell attached to the top of it clanged in a light tone and repeated the sound when they shut the door.

Inside there were just a few tables surrounded by leather sofas instead of chairs. The bar and walls were in a dark brown colour and, because of the lightning that consisted of just Christmas lights as there was only one small window, the room didn't look very big. It looked a little bit more shabby than Aiden remembered it. There weren't many clients either.

Damien glanced questioningly at Aiden and then at the table inmost the local and Pearce just shrugged his shoulders and headed that way.

The silence got more awkward when they sat down and waited to get the menu.

"I'm sorry I slept with her," Damien finally said and touched Aiden's knee with his leg under the table.

"That's not the worst thing you did. I don't care, I was gone," he muttered in answer, but didn't look him in the eye. "Just... why did you hire her to work with me?"

Damien hesitated before he answered, as if he was trying to pick the right words.

"I was worried about you. I found Maurice, and I wanted to help you find him without you knowing it's me. That's it, I thought you'd do something stupid otherwise," he spat out finally and tapped with his fingers on the table nervously.

"Oh, what's that, you actually caring about me?" Aiden joked and tilted his head. "You didn't have to fuck her because of that."

"You said you didn't mind."

"I lied, of course I mind."

Brenks sighed.

"I told you I'm sorry. Will it make it better or worse if I say that I thought about you and that I would never do that if you were nearby?" he said in low voice and caressed Aiden's hand which laid upon the table with his.

Aiden pulled it back after a while, refusing to answer.

"You didn't. I know you don't really care as long as you can put your cock into something," he muttered and looked up to the waiter who has just come with menus in his hand.

" _Céad míle failte!_  Welcome to The Gage! Ihope you'll have a wonderful meal!" he said in a heavy but fake Irish accent with a laughter, just as fake.

"It's ' _fáilte'_  ," Aiden corrected him natively in a grumpy tone and Damien couldn't help but snort, when the waiter mumbled something and walked away in hurry.

"You don't have to be so rude, Aiden. Not everyone has to know how to Irish."

"Sometimes I wonder if you even know 'how to' English."

"I know enough words to make you hot."

"Just let's order something."

He opened the card and Damien followed his example frowning.

"Aiden, what the actual hell is a 'boxty'?" he asked, but didn't get any answer. "Stop being so quiet, it's annoying." Aiden still didn't say anything, hidden behind the menu. "Aiden Pearce? Are you alive?"

"Shut up and stop touching my leg," he muttered. "Could you check if Blume has cameras in the bathroom?"

"Why are you... Oh, fuck, Aiden." Damien started chuckling, but picked up his smartphone obediently. "You could just tell me that the thing on the bench made you that horny, no need to..."

"Just stop, and check it out. I'm in need of really angry sex right now," Pearce said in low voice and looked at him over the menu.

"Sorry baby, you'll have to wait until we get home. All Blume secured, they'll throw us out and then publish it somewhere," Damien said and sighed. "Such a shame... What's a 'coddle'?"

"Just hack it, or let me hack it."

"Then they'll definitely get suspicious. You know I wouldn't refuse if it was possible, but you can't always get what you want," Brenks laughed as Aiden growled in frustration. "Gosh, Aiden, you're such a baby sometimes. Like and actual baby, not 'baby' like your pho..."

"Damien."

"Alright, I'll stop. But just tell me, would it be a big mistake to order crab... crubeanes... cru..."

"Crubeens. Boiled pigs' feet, depends on what you like," the younger man murmured with a sigh.

"Thank God, they've got a kid's menu. Pepperoni pizza, here I come," Damien announced with a smile and shut the card. "What are you gonna eat? I'll strangle you if you say dick."

Aiden tried to not laugh, but gave up finally and let out a muffled chuckle and put down his menu, looking up to see if the waiter was on his way, but he didn't show up yet.

"I'm sorry, Damien. I'm such an asshole today, maybe not as awful as you, but..." he moved his eyes from the counter to his partner again. "My point is, I'd kill for four minutes with you right now."

Damien smirked and leaned more comfortably against the back of the sofa.

"What's that face? A few seconds ago you'd kill _me_ , if you had the chance. How does your mind even work?" he asked, but couldn't finish because the waiter has come up to them.

He wasn't smiling anymore, he was just looking at Aiden grumpily, before he spoke without the false accent he was trying to pull off earlier:

"Are you ready to order?"

"Yeah, he'll have two pepperoni pizzas from kids' menu and I'll take a cottage pie," Pearce answered, before Damien could speak.

The poor guy noted their order and asked again:

"Anything to drink?"

"The best whiskey you have. You can bring over the whole bottle, I won't mind," Brenks managed to say, as Aiden gave him a scolding glare. "Redbreast, maybe?"

"Eh... sure, I'll try to get that. Anything else?"

"A shotgun," Aiden muttered under his breath, but the waiter didn't hear him and Damien just snorted. "No, thanks."

"It'll be 'round fifteen minutes, is that alright?"

"We'd like it as fast as possible," Brenks said calmly and smiled at Aiden suggestively.

The waiter walked away and it was just then Aiden breathed out loudly.

"You never listen to me, do you? I said that we won't be drinking. You won't be drinking," he whined and crossed his arms on his chest. "Also, fifteen minutes? And like... ten more minutes while we're eating? And then the walking part? Damien, I'm going to die."

"Stop being so dramatic, you're not some fucking teenager. What is it with you today?" Brenks said and shrugged his shoulders. "I will drink as much as I want, you won't stop me, sorry."

"You're a pain in the ass."

"That's not what you said last night."

"Just shut up."

"Do you know how many times you've said that today? And why don't you just go solo, no one will care about that."

"Shut up."

Damien picked up his phone and typed in something calmly. They didn't speak one more word until the waiter put the alcohol on the table and left again without pouring it to their glasses.

"Rude," Damien commented and uncrewed the bottle. With a lazy movement he filled his glass and looked at Aiden questioningly. "You want some?"

Pearce blinked a few times as if he didn't hear him at first but then just sighed and pushed his glass towards Damien with a careless move.

"Oh fuck it," he muttered and lift the drink to his lips, when Brenks has finished pouring whiskey into it. "We won't get anything done and you'll be drunk again. Going out wasn't the best idea I had today."

Damien looked down on his screen again and smirked.

"What if I told you," he said slowly and swallowed some of the liquid "I might just have gotten us four minutes? Maybe more."

Pearce stiffened and put the glass back on the table.

"How, exactly?" he asked while clearly getting ready to get up from the sofa any second.

"I might just have messed with the cameras, so they would show the record from a few minutes ago on repeat. You still on it?" the older man asked, clearly proud of what he has done.

He didn't really wait for an answer, just looked around to see if the waiter was watching them, and when he saw him disappear in the kitchen, he stood up and headed for the bathroom.

They have done this many times, just never in a Blume-secured place. They even had a specific tactic to not make it look suspicious. Damien knew that Aiden would come up to the bathroom just half a minute or so after he has gone there himself, checking if anyone was there, and hacking into the locking system of the door.

"Are you sure about the cameras?" Aiden asked in low voice, when he entered the room and Damien locked the door with his phone with a small click. He put it into his pocket and walked closer to Aiden, pushing him against one of the washbasins.

"Double and triple checked. Scanned the stalls, just to be sure. It will take them some time to notice the error," he murmured and kissed him firmly while grinding his hips against his.

Pearce grunted quietly and pulled him closer while letting his fingers slid underneath Damien's jacket.

"But are you really sure? Last time was kind of awkward," he chuckled and reached down to unzip Brenk's pants.

"See? You're doing the thing again, the 'last time went so wrong'-thing. Just loosen up a little," Damien whined and kissed him again, steadying his hands on the mirror behind Aiden. "Turn around."

"How much time do we have before our food will be ready?" Aiden asked as he obeyed Damien and slid of his coat, letting it fall to the floor.

Brenks didn't answer. He stroked Aiden's sides and reached forward to undo his jeans and pull them down, same about his trunks. Pearce flinched and cursed when he touched his bare skin.

"You're hands are so cold," he muttered and looked at Damien's reflection in the mirror with a frown.

"Stop making that face. And stop talking. When have you lost that balance between not saying anything and talking way too much?" Damien scolded him jokingly and pulled out his cock through his fly. "Are you cool with me being more rough? I'm hungry."

"Whatever, just do me," Aiden managed to say, before he let out a muffled groan when Damien spread out his spit on his manhood and thrust into him slowly.

"Be quiet," he murmured into Pearce's ear and covered his mouth with his hand. "This door is not soundproof, kiddo."

Pearce frowned and bent over slightly more in order to make himself more comfortable.

Damien was right last night, he sure had a long break. He almost forgot about the need he was feeling, when the sudden pain, that he wasn't really expecting, hit. Luckily Damien was firm, but careful, even though it sure was more rough than last night. Aiden managed to relax his muscles a little and adjust his grip on the sink, as his breath fogged up the glass through Brenks' fingers. He shut his eyes and hissed when Damien's cold hand traveled underneath his t-shirt and caressed his side and abs.

Damien pushed into him in silence, as his breaths have gotten quicker. Aiden didn't feel the pain anymore as his arousal grew, finally quenching his thirst for pleasure. He started meeting up Damien's thrusts with his own as another muffled groan escaped him. He grabbed his lover's hand and guided it down to his own cock in a needy way. Damien chuckled.

"You really wanted this, didn't you," he whispered into his ear and started to stroke him lightly.

Aiden made his moves even faster, but Damien stopped him and let go of his mouth to grab his hips by both hands and turn around, so Aiden would face the stall door instead. Brenks pushed him harder against it, so he was pressed flat against the dirty white wood.

"What are you doing?" Aiden hissed and turned his face to him to not get it smashed against the door.

"Just reminded you that I'm the one in charge here," Damien purred and leaned his head closer to kiss his lips and then his neck, while his hand reached down to Aiden's cock again and the younger man greeted it with a grunt.

"I'm on top next time?" he breathed and pressed his fingers harder against the door.

"I thought you liked bottoming," Brenks mumbled, catching his breath and stroked him faster, while feeling his climax hit any second now.

"I like it, but... fuck," Aiden started and had to cover his mouth to not cry out, when his orgasm flushed through his body making him shake and shiver. He bit his own finger as Damien breathed out more loudly than usual, swallowing a groan and coming just a few thrusts later.

He pulled out of Aiden and turned around to get some paper towels and dry himself. Aiden was still leaning his forehead against the stall, when Damien zipped his jeans and turned on the water to wash his hands.

"Better?" he said over his shoulder. "Will you stop whining now? Get yourself clean, I'll go already."

Aiden nodded and got into one of the stalls, before Damien uncoded the door and walked out, calming his breath. Pearce felt how every single one of his muscles started relaxing leaving a numb, pleasant feeling in his body. He dried himself of his and Damien's semen and pulled up his pants and underwear. With a sigh he walked out to the sinks again to wash his hands. After a second thought he splashed some water on his blushed face and dried it with paper towels on his right. In the corner of his eye he saw someone else enter the bathroom. With a quick look he checked if the bulge in his pants was still visible, but fortunately the few minutes were enough for it to disappear.

He dried his neck slowly and picked up his coat from the floor next to the sink and walked towards the door, but he heard the stranger snort. Aiden turned around and saw that the man was wearing a black hoodie and headphones were sticking out from underneath it. He was looking at his phone, but just when Aiden assumed he must've laughed at some meme or something, the stranger looked up to him and smirked, staring right at him with his bright eyes.

"Quite a show. I'd give it nine out of ten. Nine, because the angle wasn't amusing," he said in low voice and leaned against the wall.

Aiden flinched and stared at him in confusion.

"What?"

"I always assumed you were the top though. I mean, 'just do me'? Seriously? I never thought that a stoic man like you could act like such a whore," the man chuckled and pulled off his hood, showing light-blond, almost greyish straight hair falling down to his shoulders and framing his long and skinny face. "I might just add that to my database, just in case.

The Fox's stare slipped down on the man's chest, where he could clearly see a word printed with an uneven white font.  He looked up to his face curved in a smirk.

"You aren't very discreet. Markowicz, that's your name?" Aiden said and looked at the hoodie again. " _Defalt_. Did you really have to print it on your clothes?"

The other man shrugged his shoulders and slid down the blue headphones from his head so they would hang around his neck instead.

"Why not? That's my DJ-name, people should know which one is the DJ, and clearly you don't."

"Excuse me, what?" Aiden muttered, and tried to back to the door carefully.

Damien didn't give him a gun, and his phone was also in Brenks' pocket. He could just hope that his partner would realize that something is wrong and come back to the bathroom, before something unpleasant happened. And before Defalt escaped.

"I've got your data. I've got everyone's data, Fox," Defalt giggled and walked closer to him. "I'm playing the music and people are dancing the way I want. Blume. DeadSec. And you, the only hackers that can actually do anything about it."

He showed him his smartphone in a ridiculous blue and pink case. Aiden could almost reach the doorknob now.

"Everything is on this girl. Face it Aiden, you're my bitch."

The door opened suddenly and Damien walked into the bathroom with a gun pointed at Defalt. He used his other hand to pick up another pistol and pass it calmly to Aiden, while not looking away from the tall man, who didn't seem bothered by his arrival.

"Kick it over, kid," Damien muttered and pointed at the smartphone with his chin.

"Nah, I don't think so. See ya around," Defalt laughed and tapped on the screen.

A lot of things happened fast.The lamp next to the sink where Aiden was standing burst and small shards off glass flew in all directions. After that, all the other lamps exploded in the same way, burying the barthroom in darkness. Aiden covered his face with his hands to protect his eyes from the glass and Damien tried to block the door to not let Jay escape, but a steampipe in the wall burst, limiting his sight even more as hot steam gushed out from it.

Markowicz kicked Damien in his injured leg to make him fall over, stamped on his chest and ran out, before any of the two hackers could make good use of their guns. Aiden jumped over Damien, who was lying on the ground and clenching his hands on his leg, and coughing ran out to the restaurant. He saw the front door get shut and he rushed to open it again, but when he looked out, Defalt was gone already.

"Fuck," he cursed and punched the door. The waiter ran up to him from the bar and started shouting.

"Jesus! What do you think you're doing?"

"Get out of here, it's not safe," Aiden growled at him and ran back inside as he remembered that his partner was still there.

"Damien?" he called and got down on his knees to see something through the steam where it was the thinnest.

"Here. Fuck, get me out of here," Damien answered in a husky voice and reached forward from underneath the sink.

Pearce coughed and grabbed his forearm when he saw it through the steam. He pulled him closer to the door and when Brenks was close enough, he gripped him under his arms instead and dragged him out of the demolished bathroom.

"Holy shit! How could I miss it, you're those guys from the news!" the waiter shouted in realisation. Behind him stood three cooks and another waiter talking to each other in excitement. One of them was a little further in the back, Pearce was almost certain that she was calling the police.

"Damien," he muttered and shook his partner who was hanging weirdly limply in his arms. "Damien, we need to get out of here. Can you walk?"

"I think that son of a bitch broke me a rib or two. Help me up, my leg hurts," he mumbled and steadied himself on Aiden's shoulder, but almost fell over again.

"Idiot, I'll carry you. Just don't move," Pearce muttered ignoring his whining and lift Brenks up with no bigger struggle.

Damien didn't protest, he just grunted in pain and fixed his grip on Aiden's neck. Pearce almost ran out from the restaurant, feeling how the sudden adrenaline-kick effect was starting to wear off. First when they walked around the corner he noticed that red blood was dripping from his face and forearms, cut open by the shreds from the lamps. He saw a desolated car and went up to it as fast as he could, slowed down by Damien's weight, that has started to become a burden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This... this chapter is definitely not the best thing I have written. Anyway, I still kinda enjoy it, even if it most certainly isn't perfect. As you may have noticed, I changed the dialogue punctuation to the English/American one. Thanks Marthe for actually opening my eyes at how weird it might seem to some people, it's probably way better now.
> 
> Also, I really know that Aiden is strongly OOC in several ways. As I partially explained in the comments, I wanted to show how the relationship between Damien and Aiden is different than between Aiden and anyone else, as Damien was in my headcanon Aiden's greatest mentor. I'll try to make him better though, because I feel, that the effect I got is not exactly the one I wanted.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this though and please, leave kudos and comments if you liked/didn't like something. It helps a lot.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing much to say about this one. There won't be much smut for a longer while, maybe even some fluff (!).  
> Thank you for all support, remember to leave kudos and comments if you like the story so far, thank you for any tips.
> 
> Enjoy!

"Unlock it," he told Damien, who was already reaching into his pocket for his phone.

He hacked the locks and already after a moment Aiden opened the door and laid down Damien carefully on the backseat. He shut the door and climbed up to the driver's seat. Brenks started the engine for him and the Fox drove quickly from the parking lot and onto the street.

"Could you deal with the traffic? We need to move, I don't want more cop problems, and I'm very sure they're scanning for us already," Aiden said and turned up to the highway.

"Sure. Where will we go for now? My house in Mad Mile?" Damien asked as he looked out through the window faintly and changed next lights to green.

"No, too close. We're going to the Bunker."

"Aren't your guys still there?" Damien asked and opened a gate on which Aiden was heading.

"I hope they are not. Though you should meet T-Bone, he's as much of an asshole as you, you'd love eachother. "Aiden looked at Damien shortly in the reflection and his smirk wore off to be replaced by a worried frown. "Are you alright? How did you know he was in there?"

"I thought it took you too much time and checked the cameras, easy. But well, that 'Defalt' guy fucked us up pretty bad, we should have been prepared," he added and started touching his ribcage. He hissed. "Fair enough, none is broken I think. But it hurts as fuck even when I just breathe."

"And your leg?"

"Come on Pearce, is this the infamous 'caring' side of you? Don't worry so much, that's what led you into the Nicky situation," he muttered and received an angry glare from Aiden. "Just a friendly reminder. I'll be alright, you are the one who bleeds from every uncovered piece of skin," Brenks said and laughed, but regretted it quickly, when he felt the sharp pain in his chest again.

"Just scratches. You'll have to pull out the shreds later, I can feel them digging into my skin..." Aiden muttered and sped up, when he heard police sirens in the distance.

"Aiden, where on your phone is the program moving the Bunker bridge?"

"On the desktop."

"You can't mean the one with a bridge icon named 'Dick-Flicker'?"

"That's the one. T-Bone's idea," Pearce said rolling his eyes. "Could you keep your eyes on the road instead?"

"Okay, okay..."

Brenks changed the traffic lights to green again just before Aiden drove through, not even trying to slow down before the crossing. If there was something Damien really admired about Aiden, it had to be his driving skills. That man had no fears and always seemed in control of any vehicle he used, even if it was just his first time driving it.

Pearce steadied his grip on the wheel and sighed loudly.

"Damien, didn't you see when he entered the system? He told me he recorded us when we were fucking in that goddamn bathroom," he said with an annoyed tone.

"I didn't see him, he must've come in later. And I didn't see him enter that local either, that guy is a fucking ninja."

"Maybe we'll need Jordi anyway. I tried to get in touch with all my contacts, none answered, and the web is somehow controlled by Blume," Aiden said slowly, more to himself than to Damien.

Suddenly he had to drive down on the grass to not crash into the back of a truck that was slowing down for the next crossing. Aiden cursed, but drove back up on the street, overtaking the truck from the right side calmly.

"Eyes. The road," he reminded him, when Damien hurried to switch the lights that made the truck slow down. "You haven't done this in a while, have you?"

"Not really."

They continued going way too fast, gracefully passing between tightly packed cars. Brenks was pretty sure that he held his breath most of the time, as he didn't remember what a terrifying experience it was to drive with Aiden like that. He looked behind their car and saw flashing blue lights.

"Aiden..."

"I know. Just unlock my phone, turn on the blue app on the desktop and then tap every time you see it flash," Pearce said, clearly concentrated.

" 'Neutralizer'? What does it do?" Damien asked dumbly but Aiden just sighed.

"Just do it, alright? Trust me for once."

"I don't like you doing the leading thing" Damien muttered, but turned on the app. "Okay, there we go."

He tapped the screen and flinched when he heard something explode behind them. He didn't let himself get distracted and continued to look through the window and glance at the smartphone several times.

"I need to take a roundabout way, we can't let them see when we drive up on the bridge" Aiden said, when he saw that Damien looked around nervously and didn't recognize the street. "Just do what you're doing, we'll be fine."

"I know we'll be fine. I've driven with you before," Brenks wheezed and clicked on the flashing phone again. Another cruiser's lights blinked quickly a few times and then faded, as the car stopped and started reeking. "How does it work? It's brilliant!"

"Later."

The pain in Damien's chest was getting out of hand, he tried to calm his breath to not burden the bruises, but he still had to grit his teeth to not grunt in pain sometimes. But he knew he could do this, he has managed to withstand much worse pain. He neutralized one police car after another and he was almost disappointed, when Aiden turned to a small alley and sped up even more to lose the cops, because Brenks couldn't see the effects of his work anymore.

Suddenly they heard a scream outside and hit into something, but it wasn't heavy enough to stop the car. Pearce cursed, but didn't even slow down. He drove out on the highway again.

"Aiden, did you just run over a civilian?" Damien asked with a sigh. "We've talked about this before..."

"Quiet. We're busy," Aiden answered and drove down underneath a viaduct. "Get the bridge app ready."

"I get now why T-bone called it the 'Dick-Flicker'. It would be hilarous if you..."

"Damien, the bridge. _Now_."

Brenks hurried to click on the app and he saw that the bridge was starting to move and that they were getting closer to it fast. Too fast. He glanced at Aiden's reflection in the mirror, but his face was indifferent, he didn't even slow down.

"Aiden..."

"Calm down."

He was right, of course. With a few weeks' experience, Aiden managed to learn the exact technique and got the right timing. Damien breathed out when he felt how they were in the air for a tenth of a second, but then dropped on the track and shook violently. They were on the bridge and that was the only thing that mattered. He leaned back in the seat and clicked the icon again, when they got to the other side. Aiden checked in the mirror if the bridge was turning back to its' basic position and slowed down carefully while turning in behind one of the containers.

Damien made a quiet 'whoo' sound, and chuckled throwing his head back, but hissed when he stretched the muscles on his chest too much.

"That was hell of a ride. Eight out of ten, would never do it again," he breathed before he grunted and got more pale. "Go check if they are inside first. I'll be alright."

"You sure?" Aiden asked and turned to him as he dried of some blood of his face with his sleeve. "It won't take me long, I'll be back."

"I don't doubt it."

"I need my phone to open the door. Give me," he added and took the smarphone from Damien's ourstretched shaky hand.

"Don't you need the password?" he reminded his partner, when Aiden unhesitantly got out of the car and walked towards the hidden door.

"Please, I've figured it out hours ago." Pearce said before he tapped on the cracked screen leaving small bloody marks all over.

Damien looked at him in fear.

"So you will leave me here? I'm so stupid, of course you figured it out..." he said in low voice, almost as if he didn't want Aiden to hear it from outside.

"I'm clever, Damien. Not cruel," were his last words before he entered the lift to the bunker and got inside.

 

Brenks was confused. The Aiden he knew wouldn't come back, this was the best way to get his revenge on Damien and it was very unlikely that he skipped it. Damien felt so foolish all of sudden. Aiden was right, he underestimated him a lot.

He looked at the container longingly and considered his possibilities. Aiden was inside, probably not going to get him, he was less injured thank Brenks and had his unlocked phone with him. The phone with the only app that could get Damien out to the city again. He sighed carefully and tried to get to the front seat, but gave up after a few attempts. His leg was burning where Defalt kicked him, he could barely bend his knee, and he could feel bruises form on his ribcage. Those weren't any serious injuries, but they were nasty enough to make him more disabled than he usually was. Finally he has given up and just laid down on the seat, picking up his phone from his pocket, and waited while playing some stupid games on his phone.

He was angry. Not even at his partner, but at himself, and at how blind he was. He wondered if Aiden's desire for revenge was bigger than his greatest weakness, the constant concern about everything and everyone, even if saving them wasn't really his duty.

 _'Not cruel,'_ Damien thought to himself. _'Now what the hell do you mean by that?'_

Minutes went by, but Pearce wasn't showing up. It was still early, barely half past six, but as it was almost November, the evenings were getting cold. Damien started to shiver of cold and tucked his jacket more neatly around his body.

Another few minutes. He rested his head against the window and shut his eyes in attempt to rest a little. The effect of whiskey was wearing off and he was now feeling every single muscle ache uncomfortably, even when he wasn't moving at all. He has almost managed to ignore the pain and cold, and started to doze off slowly, when he heard shouts from outside. He blinked a few times and looked out. The sun was set already and he could only see two silhouettes before him. He recognized Aiden quickly, and presumed that the shorter and thinner one had to be Clara, when he heard her shout back something to Aiden, who pushed her away in silence and walked closer to the car nervously.

"He's manipulating you, can't you see?" Lille cried out with frustration and ran after him. Pearce stopped and looked down at her in a degrading way.

"I know, but you're not the one to judge him," he answered a little bit louder than it was needed, but still calmly.

"Aiden, wait," she pleaded and when Pearce actually stopped, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled down his head slightly to kiss him shortly on the lips.

Aiden pushed her away roughly to make her fall on the ground.

"Fuck off, Clara. Leave me, and God rest your soul if I ever see you again" he said in a cold tone and turned the bridge with his phone. "Don't come back."

"You'll regret this, Aiden," she stated in a low tone and wanted to add something more, but the man pointed at a motorcycle several yards away from her and interrupted her.

"Get on it and get the hell out of here, I said, or _you_ will regret this," he told her chilly and followed her with his glare when she walked over to the vehicle slowly and started the vehicle. "Go."

"When he has used you enough, call me. I'll be there."

"I'll certainly not. Go and be ' _BadBoy 17_ ' somewhere else."

Clara wheezed and rushed away across the bridge. Aiden turned it back to horisontal position, when she drove up on the other side. Pearce walked up to the car and opened the door in the back.


	8. [I_Need_A_Doctor]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is getting... slow, I know. To be honest, I've never written anything this long, so sorry if it gets more and more boring. I hope it will be better soon.

"I though you wouldn't come back," Damien breathed as Aiden grabbed him underneath his arms and pulled out of the car carefully.

"I've though about it, but maybe I don't hate you _that_ much," Pearce said and lift him up again.

Brenks grunted and clutched his fingers on Aiden's bloody coat, trying to stabilise himself in Aiden's grip. He looked up to his face and frowned.

"Aiden I'm not sure I can pluck out those, you should for once do that in a hospital," he commented the glass shards glimting buried in his skin. The blood has clotted already, but he still looked awful.

"Do you know what would happen if someone saw the Fox in a hospital?" Aiden asked breathily with a snort as he walked towards the door holding Damien firmly.

"Yeah, but...You don't want those to be stuck in your skin forever," Damien muttered when they got inside the lift and started moving in to the Bunker. "I don't get it though, why did you come back for me? Apparently you don't have to work for me, if you got back the phone. I have no arguments for you to..."

"Don't speak. The moment Defalt recorded us, this data thing became my problem too, and I could use some help," Aiden answered and opened the door when the lift stopped moving.

"Wow, I always wanted to see this place," Brenks said with a smirk when Aiden made a better grip underneath his knees and walked towards the main room, but turned left on the iron bridge and carried his partner into a small room with a single bed and a laptop on the desk next to it. "You won't show me the rest of it?"

"You're too heavy and too injured. Maybe tomorrow." He laid him on the bed slowly and hissed when he accidentally squeezed his bleeding hand between Damien and the mattress. He pulled it out slowly and saw that one of the shards has cut up his palm sideways. "I'll get the aid kit, he murmured and while stopping the blood from dripping onto the floor, he headed for the bathroom closer to the front door to get a green box with bandages and everything he needed after most jobs. He came back into the bedroom after a short while and sat on the bed next to Damien.

"Mine will take more time, I'll start with you," he said before he opened the kit and knot some bandages on his hand to not bleed on the bed.

"Are you sure, that..." Damien begun, seeing that Aiden was clearly in pain, but his face was tense and determined. Brenks sighed and slid off his jacket carefully. Later Aiden helped him to undo his vest and shirt and also slid them off. Pearce frowned, when he saw two big foot-formed bruises on Damien's chest. There was clotted blood in a few places, but the thing that worried Aiden the most were the purple and red swellings, that seemed to hurt a lot with every breath Damien took. "Sorry I was so slow, when I left you there," he said and grabbed a towel on which he spilled disinfectant and pressed it carefully against his chest.

Damien shivered and flinched while clenching his teeth. The wounds weren't big, but together with the kneading on his bruises, it hurt more than he thought it would. Aiden was gentle, but he had to be thorough.

"Any painkillers?"

"None left. I'm almost there, don't move," Pearce muttered soothingly and put away the towel. He searched for the blue tube with a cream for healing acceleration of bruises and spread it slowly on the purple marks. "Sit up," he commanded and grabbed him by his forearm to help him up. He picked up a bandage and knot it around his chest neatly. After that he got on his knees below the bed and stretched out Damien's leg, steading it upon his own knee. He undid the brace and then Brenks' zipper and pulled down his jeans, throwing them carelessly on the floor. This time Damien didn't even bother to joke about any sexual innuendos, he just let Aiden's experienced fingers treat his injury in silence, the same way he did with his chest.

Finally Pearce lift Damien's stiffened leg up on the bed again. Without any unnecessary preliminaries Aiden slid off his coat with a pained sigh, showing his wounded forearms and neck. He walked over to the wall and turned another light, to examine his condition.

"You look worse than me," Damien said with a faint smile and reached for tweezers in the box.

"I don't think so. Start with those in the back of my neck, they hurt most."

"I don't doubt it," Brenks muttered when Aiden sat on the bed between Damien's legs with his back turned to him. "Hey, remember that time I drove that motorcycle into..."

"Yeah. But how is it even possible that you didn't get any glass on yourself now?" he interrupted him and shivered, when Damien disinfected his neck and started to look for the lustrous pieces of light bulbs in his skin.

"You were right between the lamps and me. Consider yourself lucky that you didn't get anything in your eyes," Damien murmured and reached under Aiden's arm to get a small jar from the aid kit and put one of the bloody pieces of glass inside it. "One."

"Before you get to my face you'll be at two hundred."

"Then so be it."

Pearce grabbed another tweezer and started to ready his left forearm clumsily. It took way too much time to just clean out the back of Aiden's neck. He clenched the fingers of his left hand on his thigh painfully and breathed unevenly, while Damien plucked out one shred after another. When he was done with that small spot, he dried it again with the towel and kissed it tenderly. Aiden purred softly and sighed.

"Forty five," he said and put one of the pieces he held with the tweezers.

"Turn around and give me your right hand," Damien told him and Aiden listened obediently.

He sat on the bed facing Damien, and when he moved slightly back to make him some more space to sit, Pearce wrapped his legs around him. The older man snorted, but moved away when Aiden wanted to kiss him.

"Not with all the sharp stuff in your face. Let's get this over with," he said quietly but firmly and grabbed his hand to take the bandage off and clean the big wound.

Pearce didn't say anything, he just observed his partner's movements and felt how the shards were leaving his skin slowly. He choked back a groan, when Damien pulled out the big shard that screwed up his palm so badly. Brenks put it carefully in the jar and counted loudly:

"Seventy two."

"Maybe just _one_ hundred then," Aiden muttered and smiled faintly. He was pale, but tried to not show his pain too clearly.

Damien was soon done with his right hand, bandaged it and started to pull out the few shards that Aiden missed on his left hand. When he also did that, he looked up to Pearce's face and begun to pluck the stray pieces from his forehead, chin and front of his neck.

It has almost been one hour since they begun. It was an arduous job and the only good thing about the position they were in was that Damien's leg has gone numb already and the pain wasn't as sharp anymore. The only sound in the background was constant buzzing from the working computers, but it wasn't very distracting.

"Ninety eight. Funny how you can never get an even number when you do this stuff," Brenks joked and wanted to put away the tweezers, but Aiden stopped his hand.

"I can feel that you missed one, here somewhere." He pointed somewhere along his jawline and Damien had to lift his chin to see it.

"Right. You're lucky that it didn't go deeper..." he muttered and tilted his head carefully to the left to get more light on the small wound. "This one was big, how could I miss it? I mean... I probably didn't get all of them but at least most."

He plucked out the shard carefully and put it in the jar with a satisfied smirk. Then he desinfected the wound and put a band aid on it.

"Ninety nine. It should be one hundred though, I can almost feel my dead OCD waking up," he said and put away the jar and tweezers into the box.

Aiden snickered and caressed Brenks' face with the tweezers. He moved them down to his chin and pulled out something. A small shard, not even half as big as the one Damien just found in Aiden's skin.

"One hundred. I guess I wasn't entirely in the way for the shards. I wonder how you didn't notice it," Pearce murmured, put the glass piece in the jar and leaned in closer to Damien to kiss him gently on his mouth.

Damien smirked slightly under Aiden's lips and caressed his back fondly. Aiden's taped fingers ran through Brenks' hair and pushed his face a little bit closer to his own. They parted after a while and Aiden smiled at Damien while resting his forehead against his.

"Maybe I missed you just a little after all," he whispered and shut his eyes while breathing in his air heavily. "We should go to bed earlier today."

"If you're suggesting something, I must disappoint you. I can't really move," Damien said when Aiden stood up and closed the aid kit.

"I actually mean sleeping. Like turning on the 'deep sleep mode' until tomorrow," he joked and walked over to a wardrobe to take out a blanket and pillow from it. He laid them down on the bed next to Damien and headed for the door.

"You won't stay with me?" Brenks said and tilted his head in a way that reminded Aiden of an overgrown puppy.

"No, this bed is tiny, I'll sleep on the one Clara used."

"Could you at least get me something to eat? I'm starving."

Aiden snorted but nodded and went downstairs to a small fridge filled with microwave food T-Bone bought when he was in town. He felt how his own stomach growled loudly as he tried to find the best option; fast pizza. He grabbed two and microwaved them on plates. Then he opened the fridge again with a yawn and after a second thought he picked up two beers, carefully lifting the bottles with his bandaged hands.

When Pearce got up to the room again with the food, Damien was already underneath the blanket and doing something on his phone. He looked up to Aiden lazily and smiled when he put the pizza and beer on the floor next to the bed.

"This is probably way better than it would be in that shitty restaurant," he said and put away the smartphone to pick up pizza.

"I hope," Aiden said and stuffed his face with one piece while leaning against the door frame. "Not bad."

"Definitely."

Pearce sat on the floor and they continued eating their food in silence. He opened his beer and drank some of it, while resting his head against the wall.

"We're so fucked, Damien," he finally said in a husky voice and sighed.

Brenks didn't answer at first, he just swallowed another bite of pizza and looked away from Aiden slowly. He didn't have to say anything, they both knew how right Aiden was. Defalt was a great player, and though the game they played could be fun, they had to be prepared for a defeat.

"He's just a kid, we just need a better plan, that's all," Damien said after a few minutes, almost done with eating.

"We'll think about this tomorrow," Aiden said and finished off all of his beer at once. He sighed and stood up. "Goodnight."

"You too, baby."

"I told you to not call me that," Pearce said from outside the room already and Damien chuckled softly.

"Yeah, fine."


	9. [Magic]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember what I said about no smut for some time? I lied.
> 
> Enjoy. 
> 
> (Sorry it's so short. I kind of ran out of chapters too, it might take a while as I'm working on something else too)

Hours went by and Aiden actually fell asleep, even though he found it difficult at first. Clara's scent was annoying him and the buzzing of the computers that usually calmed him, sounded like thunder to him. But he dozed off finally and has rested for a while, when he jerked awake to his bed shaking slightly. He muttered something unclearly and wanted to pop up and pinch down the intruder, when he felt that it was just Damien, who was now caressing his hip lightly and pressing his chest against Aiden's back.

"How did you even come here?" he murmured and moved a little bit closer to the wall to give Damien more space.

"Magic," Brenks whispered in answer and nibbled on Aiden's ear carefully while moving his hand up to his chest and underneath his t-shirt. "Just sleep."

"You're ridiculous sometimes, Damien," Aiden mumbled, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"Tell me something I don't know," he answered and kissed his neck slowly while tangling his legs together with Aiden's.

They laid like this, listening to each other's breaths in silence. Damien's fingers were caressing Aiden's stomach slightly. Pearce sighed and put his bandaged hand upon Damien's, leading it somewhat lower. Brenks chuckled and slid in his hand into Aiden's trunks delicately. He gasped quietly in response.

"Want me to continue?" Damien whispered while brushing through his hair with his other hand.

"If you persuade me," Aiden said and tried to move closer to Brenks, but he stopped him.

"Bruises. Don't press too hard," he reminded him, and pushed him back closer to the wall. His fingers brushed over his cock slightly and then gave it a few strokes. Pearce flinched and let him run his fingers all over his lower parts. 

"Couldn't you wait until the morning?" he asked breathily as Brenks sucked his skin leaving a big hickey where his right shoulder met his neck.

"Does time matter?" he mumbled and felt Aiden's muscles tense and his manhood harden under his touch.  

He guided Damien's hand on his cock and inhaled slowly. Brenks' teeth were itching his skin and though it hurt a little, Aiden found it rather pleasant. He arched his back slightly as Damien's left hand has grabbed him by his throat and choked him a little. Though Pearce wasn't usually into that kind of thing, he knew that Damien liked it. A lot. He fought for his breath and groaned softly, when his partner finally let go.

"Don't do that, the hickeys are enough," he muttered and moved Brenks' hand away from his neck to his cheek.

"I can feel that you liked it though," Damien chuckled while fondling Aiden's painfully hard cock. He purred and licked his ear, letting a steamy, wet breath tickle Aiden.

"I'm still on top next time," Pearce said shakingly and started stroking his own upper body, feeling waves of pleasure slowly dance through him.

Damien snorted and made his moves faster.

"You wish. On your back."

"What are you doing?"

"Just do it," he murmured and when Aiden did, he dived under the blanket slowly and pushed down Pearce's hips into the mattress and kissed his thigh lightly while pulling down his trunks entirely.

"Why are you so nice all of the sudden?" Aiden asked with a chuckle and steadied himself on his elbows to look down on Damien in the dark room.  "You know that it won't help you in making me forgive you?"

"Doesn't matter. In opposite to you, I actually like sucking dick," he answered and smirked, making Aiden burst out laughing.

"God, do you always have to be so direct?" Pearce let out and gasped, when Damien took him into his mouth without any second thought. "What was I saying?"

Brenks snorted and his throat vibrated slightly making Aiden groan in low voice. His hand traveled down to Damien's head and pushed him further down. Damien's slick fingers have grabbed his ass and pulled him closer while fondling it. He didn't move his head away, instead he breathed in heavily through his nose and looked up to Aiden, who threw his head back while purring, clearly pleased.

"I forgot how good you are at this," he murmured and moved away his hand to dig his fingers into the sheets and let Brenks do his magic.

He moved away from Aiden's cock for a moment to catch his breath, but then started sucking on its head again. Pearce felt pleasant shivers in his entire body as Damien moved one of his hands up to his chest and scratched on it, almost making him cry out, but his throat was too dry. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out and Damien laughed at him again.

"You look like a fish out of water," he chuckled, but Aiden reached for his hair and made him swallow around him again. This time he managed to moan out Brenks' name breathily and he looked down at his partner, his vision almost blurry.

Damien freed himself from his grip and flicked his tongue along the shaft of his lover, who was mumbling out Damien's name on repeat. He came suddenly with a grunt and Damien felt his partner's liquids running down on the side of his face. He continued to lick his cock lightly while Aiden was shivering and cursing, grabbing the sheets with his taped fingers and probably opening up some of the wounds underneath the bandages. When he finally calmed down and laid his head on the pillow heavily, Damien dried off his face with the blanket, though Aiden's protests.

"You always make such a mess," he muttered, when Brenks laid next to him on the bed slowly, trying to not hurt his chest.

"You made the mess, I just cleaned it up," Damien said in answer and kissed Aiden softly on his chin.

He sighed and moved his lips down to meet up Damien's.

"Now is good time to say it," Damien murmured with a smirk, when Aiden turned around away from him again and breathed out.

"To say what?" he asked in low, sleepy voice.

"I don't know, 'I love you'? That's what people usually say," Brenks said and wrapped his arm around his partner again.

The bed seemed much smaller all of sudden, but none of them actually cared about that. Aiden hugged Damien's hand closer to his chest and shut his eyes.

"I told you, that's not how you change my mind, Damien." Pearce's voice was calm, but harsh, showing that he didn't want to continue the conversation.

"You said it once already. I know. I just want to hear it again, after so many months. When you say it of your own will and not to get your smartphone back, I mean," the other man said softly and rubbed his face against Aiden's neck.

"Forget it."

He wouldn't give him the satisfaction. A moment of awkward silence fell between them, when Damien was clearly waiting to hear Aiden say something more, but no words came.

"Fine, I'll wait. I'll have you screaming it out loud, one day," he said surely and Pearce wheezed at his words. "I'm serious, you know that I don't lie."

"Yes you do."

"Okay, yes I do."

Aiden snorted but got quiet quickly. His smile faded as he was falling asleep slowly. He felt that awful falling thrill and got back to his fully awoken state. Damien hugged him slightly closer, though not close enough to press him against his bruises.

"Aiden?" he started, tearing Pearce out of his sweet state of falling asleep again.

"What?" he growled quietly in answer.

"You never told Clara, did you?"

"Never told her what?"

"That you and me...? I saw that she kissed you, I think that she might've..."

"That's private, Damien. Why would I tell her?" Aiden interrupted him snoozily and sighed. "Can we just go to sleep?"

"Sure, I just... Never mind, let's sleep."

 Aiden made himself more comfortable in his grip and breathed out slowly.

"You're such a dick, Damien," he muttered before he fell asleep again, this time until the morning, listening to his partner's steady breathing.


	10. [Sounds_Like_a_Plan]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh LOOOOK! A chapter! But now I totally ran out of material, I'll try to write when I'm in the mood. This fic is for some reason very emotional for me, and when I feel down I really can't write it. I hope you guys understand.
> 
> Anyway, here's a thing. A short thing, but it's something, eh? 
> 
> Enjoy ;)

The next few days went by lazily. Damien still couldn't move much more than between the bedroom and bathroom, and even that was a difficult task. He made Aiden stay close to him all day, while he was serching for any new offers from fixers in deep web. Of course, he had to tell him all about how he figured out the password to the phone.

"You didn't make it so hard, you know," he said, "it's as if you wanted to give me hints. Couldn't you think of anything better than Merlaut job's date?"

"If I took any other numbers I would forget them too," Damien chuckled in answer and ran his fingers through Aiden's hair.

Then he had to make his partner tell him how he programmed the brilliant neutralizer. Pearce explained quite evasively and though Damien wouldn't let him dodge the answer entirely, he knew that he wanted to keep the program to himself. Of course, Brenks had hacked like this many times before, but not just by one click and he would surely appreciate that knowledge.

"I can't tell you, I don't give out my work to people I am not planning to work with in the future," Aiden said grumpily, when another annoying hour has passed and Damien hasn't stopped asking him for details.

"But why, Aiden? We could make good use of that, if we continue to cooperate," he pushed, trying to get out of him as much as he could.

" _If_ , Damien. That's the keyword. If."

After the few worst days have passed, they have decided it was time to get their plan ready. The wisest thing to do was to hit directly into the source, Defalt. He was still working at DotConnexion and didn't seem very threatened by the thought that two great hackers were after him.

Somewhere on fourth day, Aiden helped Damien to shower and changed his bandages. His own small wounds from the crashed lightbulbs were almost all gone or changed into small white scars already on the sixth day, and that was also the day when Damien's  bruises started getting smaller and that gave his mood a big boost. In the end of the week he was able to walk down to the main chamber himself and Aiden gave him lots of time to enjoy the technology of that place.

"This," Brenks said, sitting on the chair and looking up to the huge screens on the wall," this is the most magnificent thing I've ever seen in my life."

Aiden snorted looking up from his screen at Damien's wide grin. He was running his fingers lightly over the keyboard as he looked through the options of the Bunker's machines. After a while he found the folder with the rest of the data that didn't get all erased by Defalt due to many backup copies by T-Bone. Most of them were gone, but some videos were still left. Damien opened one of them and Aiden just sighed when he saw the blurry video of a woman on one of the bigger screens on the wall.

"That's the video that you talked about, Aiden, isn't it?" Damien asked and leaned back against the backrest. "The one that fucked up our peaceful lives, huh?"

"Well, it's not like they were ever peaceful. But yeah. That's the one," Aiden answered and looked down on his keyboard again. "It's still corrupt. We weren't able to fix it. Try if you want, good luck."

"That's not our biggest problem right now. And I trust your skills, if it was that easy, you'd have done it already." He wheezed. "Look, Aiden. Look at this. Those pixels were worth my leg, our partnership and your niece. Aren't you curious?"

"Of course I am, but we don't have time for this." He sighed and shut the laptop. "We should call Jordi."

Damien closed the window with the video and glanced at the Vigilante, lifting his eyebrows.

"You've changed your mind?"

"Yeah. We have no other choice. People don't really like working with us anymore," Aiden said sounding resigned.

Damien chuckled with a sparkle in his eyes. "Uh, jeez, wonder why. Maybe because all forces in Chicago are looking for you."

"Told you already, it's your fault."

"We should let that go and get down to business. So, are you gonna call him, or should I do it?" Brenks asked calmly, seeing how tense Aiden's face was.

He was still not alright with this. At all. Pearce has trusted Jordi only when he has payed him and he knew that it wasn't hard to get Chin's loyalty for an adequate price. The only thing he feared was that Jordi could get a better reward from someone else, even jerks like Iraq. On the other hand he may think through their offer and decide that it's better to serve a legit person like Aiden. In opposite to some people, Aiden always delivered, and he delivered good.

"Let me. Should I do it now?" he asked picking up his phone.

"If you feel like it. The sooner the better, eh?"

So Aiden browsed through the contacts on his phone and finally found their fixer. He chose the number and put this smartphone to his ear. After a few signals he almost put it away again, as he thought that Chin wouldn't answer. But he did.

"Sorry it took me so long. I just couldn't believe my eyes... Pearce, who would have thought?" he heard Jordi's voice say with his usual playful and slightly sarcastic tone.

"I have a job for you."

"And I have a contract on your head. We could meet up and talk about this, if you want," Chin chuckled and breathed out loudly. "No, but seriously. That would make this easier."

"So that's a definitive 'no', isn't it?" Pearce sighed and wanted to hang up, but Damien shook his head and gestured him to keep on. He mouthed "haggle" and Aiden just rolled his eyes. "What if we pay better?"

"We? Oh, don't tell me you're there with Brenks," Jordi snorted and when Aiden didn't answer, he stopped laughing. "OH, you ARE. Fuck me sideways, you seem to always know how to surprise me, Pearce."

"Answer. How much for your service? We need just a few hours," Aiden said and tapped with his fingers on the table quietly.

Damien knew that habit. His partner usually did that when he was trying to focus. It used to annoy the hell out of Brenks, when he tried to focus himself, but now it didn't bother him at all. He looked down on Aiden's fingers, following the rhythmical taps across the table with his gaze.

"I told you how much you are worth right now, Fox. If you can top that with, let's say one hundred grand, I might change my mind."

"You're such a whore, Jordi," Aiden sighed.

"You know very well who I am, Pearce. And now if you excuse me..." Aiden heard a man scream in the background, pleading. "Hey there, shut up. Not you, Pearce. God, why are you so..." A thud on Jordi's side of the line. "There. But yeah, just call me if you need me. If you have the cash, otherwise I'm not in. Bye baby, I'm busy."

Pearce looked down on his phone screen and then up to Damien again.

"Did he hang up?" Brenks asked and Aiden nodded in silence. "What did he say?"

"Not less than one-point-one million bucks. Not very profitable, if you ask me."

Damien rubbed his face with his hand lazily.

"This guy is crazy."

"Told you."

"But we can pay that. We have to pay that, no other choice," Damien said and smiled faintly. "How about we start with some assholes from 4chan?"

Pearce couldn't help but snort as he opened his laptop again shaking his head.

"Sounds like some kind of plan. A terrible plan really, but the only one we can manage right now."

"It _is_ terrible. That's why it will work."


	11. [Messages]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damien doesn't really grasp the concept of "no".

So they were working together. Again. After such a long while. Actually working, not just searching for fixers like they did a few days back.

"Remember when I showed you 4chan for the first time, Aiden?" Damien chuckled after a while, opening a source to one of the IP's. "You said you've never seen more twisted people in one place. Now you don't even seem alarmed."

"Deep web fucked me up, Damien. This is nothing," Pearce murmured in answer and took a sip from his coffee cup. "They don't even use good proxies, I thought Anons were better than this."

"Anons are. Sunday users aren't." A smile lit up Damien's face. "I got a good one, ten percent equals eleven grand."

"Nice."

And they went on. It was a boring and arduous job, but Aiden knew that it was just the calm before the storm. Even if they managed to collect enough cash before Defalt moved, the real 'fun' would start when they got their hands on Jordi. Or rather when Jordi got his hands on the cash.

Aiden set a few accounts on safe download and stood up, stretching his back. He yawned and rubbed his temple with his fingers.

"Where are you going?" Damien asked, without looking up from his screen.

"A walk. Maybe. I don't know, I need a break," Aiden said and leaned against the desk, looking up to the screens on the wall. His gaze slid down to the blurry video of a woman. "This is killing me."

Damien nodded, and looked at him thoughtfully. "We'll take care of it as soon as the Defalt thing is done."

"As soon as the Defalt thing is done, you're getting out of here. Remember my conditions," Aiden said harshly after a moment. Though he didn't sound very determined.

Brenks sighed and spinned himself on the chair to face Aiden. "Come here," he said softly and Aiden just looked away from him. "Come here," Damien repeated, a little bit more firmly, "you owe me that much."

"I don't owe you anything, Damien," Aiden wheezed, but walked closer to him. "I think we've made that clear."

"Sit on my lap."

"Come on, your leg isn't good enough for that," Pearce snorted and crossed his arms upon his chest.

"I think that's a thing I can figure better than you. If that's your only objection, come here."

Aiden sighed but just shook his head and obeyed, sitting on Damien's lap, with his legs astride him. The chair creaked dangerously and for a split second Aiden wondered if it could hold their weight, but then he didn't really care. He wouldn't be the one to hit the ground first.

Damien wrapped his arms firmly around Aiden's waist and caressed him through his sweater with the back of his hand. Pearce was all stiff as all the time lately, when it came to physical contact. Brenks couldn't really blame him, after everything. The only moment he acted like before was when they took care of each other's wounds. All days besides then were quite tense and cold. That's why Damien was more than surprised and almost shortly startled, when he felt that Aiden leaned towards him and kissed his chin softly. Brenks moved his hand up his spine and neck to move his head closer to embrace Aiden's lips with his in response. Shortly, because the Fox pulled away from him, breathing out loudly.

"Fuck, I can't do this. I tried, Damien."

"You can't what?"

"You know what I mean. I can't love you." His fingers ran over the back of Damien's neck. "Because if I start again, there will be no going back. Not this time."

"And why would you want to go back to hating me?" Damien murmured and let his fingers find their way underneath Aiden's sweater to caress the skin on his back. He was still looking directly into Pearce's eyes. He felt like cursing. No expression, as usual. Aiden has mastered his poker face many years back, and when he wasn't in a situation like the one in the harbor, he could ultimately keep it, much to Damien's disapproval. "Because I never stopped lo..."

"Cut it out," Aiden wheezed. "I don't need it and I don't want it. Keep it to yourself," he muttered and dragged his thumb along Damien's jawline, stopping where his facial hair stopped, just below his lower lip. Brenks smirked and his hand slid lower again to touch Aiden's thigh.

"Aye, sir." He kissed Aiden's hand lightly. "We don't need to love each other to get some?"

Pearce snorted. "That makes it more difficult, but you're right. We don't." He let Damien pull him closer and kiss his neck. "I never said I wanted though."

"Do you?"

"In other circumstances, maybe. But we have work to do and I need a break from this. And from you," he added after a moment and stood up again, slowly. Damien still held his sleeve, frowning slightly.

"Don't go," he murmured, but Aiden yanked the sweater out of his grip and headed for the exit. When the elevator shut after Aiden, Brenks just sighed and turned back to the computer.

He wanted to be angry at Aiden so bad. He wanted to be disappointed at how Aiden couldn't decide how he felt about him. But he couldn't, because he knew the truth. Aiden has decided. And it was Damien's fault, all the way. Maybe not the Merlaut job in particular, they never really decided whose fuck up it was, but their current relations, their relations in general, were undoubtedly Brenks' fault.

He glanced at the screen, before he stood up carefully and limped towards their provisory kitchen, when he felt his phone vibrate. He picked up from his pocket and sighed again.

**BadBoy 17**

**[answer] [reject]**

_**[call ended]** _

Thank God he turned off voicemail years ago. Otherwise, he'd never hear the end of Clara's voice.

He put away the phone and opened the fridge, picking out a beer. They were almost all cleared out and he thought he should ask Aiden to go get some groceries tomorrow. He shut the fridge door and he enjoyed the soft hiss of the can getting opened, when he bent the metal part. He took a sip, when he felt the vibrations again.

"Come on, fuck off," he groaned under his breath before he picked up the phone.

**Badboy 17**

**[answer] [reject]**

_**[call ended]** _

__

Damien walked over to the desk again and sat on the chair, drinking some more beer. Maybe some other time he would answer, but now he felt too bitter. He glanced at Aiden's seat and frowned, when he saw that Aiden left his main smartphone next to the keyboard. When they got here, he picked out two less important ones and told Damien, that he didn't really like using his 'PearcePhone' when he didn't have to work. Too much important data. And Brenks understood that, but it made him slightly curious why Aiden would leave it just laying around.

Damien looked shortly towards the door and then back on the phone. He's had this phone for some time, but he didn't really browse through it. He didn't feel the need, after all he respected Aiden's job and private data. It wouldn't be bad to just peek at it though, would it? Without further procrastination, Damien grasped the phone and swiped the screen, surprised that Aiden haven't set any new password. He wanted to go straight for the card, but he noticed a new message in the bottom corner.

**_[17:43 Lille: He isn't answering. You aren't answering. We need to get this straight, Aiden, please.]_ **

Curiosity won. Damien opened the thread and started reading the messages, one after one. The first ones in the thread were mostly job coordinates and data, still sent with the signatures 'BB17' and 'Fox'. Later were texts about Damien. Some of them he could recognize as the ones he sent to Clara to send to Aiden. Then there was the moment when they were looking for Kenney, and then nothing for a long time.

Then came a curious little text. Damien smirked.

**_[04:23 me: I should have known better than this.]_ **

**_[04:27 Lille: What? Where r u?]_ **

**_[04:29 me: I should've stayed with Damien. He lied less.]_ **

Brenks flinched, when another message arrived. He scrolled down the thread, but it wasn't from Clara.

**_[17:49] #2: could you stop reading my texts asshole?]_ **

Damien snorted and glanced at the entrance, but Aiden wasn't getting inside yet. He could have predicted Pearce wouldn't leave his phone without any protection at all, even if it was just alarming him when certain programs got opened.

**_[17:50 me: sorry. come back in gettin bored]_ **

**_[17:51 #2: forget it]_ **

**_[17:51 #2: and put away my phone. You touch it again, i'll kill you]_ **

**_[17:52 me: ok rude]_ **

Damien put away the phone with a chuckle and turned to the screen again. He drunk some more of the beer when his phone vibrated again, when Clara called. This was going to be a long day. And night.

Meanwhile, Aiden was busy climbing up on the roof. He liked climbing and lately he was doing more of it to break into the CtOS than he ever thought he would in his late thirties.

The metal ladder felt cold and rusty against his fingers, but it felt good as a contrast to the uncomfortable touch of his partner. He scratched his knee against the wall when he pulled himself up on the tiles and breathed out loudly. He was on the top now. Of course, he could try to climb on the small tower which would give him another several feet distance between him and the ground, but he wouldn't risk scaling the wall. It was quite obvious that he was getting too old for this.

He sat on the flat spot next to the chimney and relaxed against it, shutting his eyes. The air was chilly and somehow humid. Aiden used to sit here many times, when he needed a break from T-Bone's whining, but never when it was this cold. He tucked himself more tightly with his coat and sighed.

Why did he even try? He knew it would never work with Damien again. It never even did, not before, not ever. It was never a real relationship. It started out as a bonus to their partnership and that worked for a while. For a longer while, to be honest. Then these uncomfortable _feelings_ started appearing and Aiden felt that he was defeated.

That couldn't happen again. Aiden missed Damien's touch, but he was so afraid that he would fall for him again, and if he would, he would fall hard.

He could leave. Why not leave?

He couldn't leave. Not now, not after what Defalt did. When Damien got his head off the data, he would help Aiden get his hands on Maurice.

But will it help? Will killing a man bring him back Lena?

No it won't. But it will help him sleep at night.

**_[18:06 Damien: will u come back soon?]_ **

Aiden sighed and started typing with his cold fingers when he got another message.

**_[18:07 Damien: ur download is done]_ **

**_[18:07 Damien: and I love you]_ **

Pearce snorted and put away the phone. Damien usually had a hard time accepting the concept of "no". Aiden knew that way too well.

**_[18:13 Damien: at least answer for fucks sake]_ **

Damien also had a hard time taking hints, when someone didn't want to talk to him.

**_[18:15 me: turn on some new downloads. I'll come down in a while.]_ **

No new answer came from Damien, so Aiden assumed he has given up. Then his phone got a new notification and he grunted, leaning against the chimney again.

**_[18:21 me: are you on my phone again?]_ **

**_[18:22 PearcePhone: nope]_ **

**_[18:22 PearcePhone: oh shit]_ **

**_[18:23 PearcePhone: ok, I admit I fucked up. putting it away now]_ **

**_[18:23 me: asshole]_ **

Aiden noticed that he smiled unwittingly but he erased the expression from his face. That's what Damien wanted. Forgiveness.

It was too early for it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 500 HITS!
> 
> Jeez, guys, I'm super excited! Also, you're sick, awful people for reading this hahah :P
> 
> (I love you all)


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